A dispute over whether or not to seal the transfer of Chelsea star Eden Hazard was key in Zinedine Zidane’s decision to leave Real Madrid, according to reports in Spain.
Zidane had requested the signing of Hazard, only for club president Florentino Perez to prefer for the manager to stick with Marco Asensio for that attacking midfield role instead of risk losing him, according to Don Balon.
MORE: Chelsea launch bid for €60m Liverpool transfer target to replace star player this summer
The report goes on to say that this ultimately led to Zidane being sacrificed as he was willing to resign over the issue.
Hazard has long been one of the best players in the world and seems an ideal fit for Real Madrid as Cristiano Ronaldo ages and Gareth Bale struggles for regular playing time.
This also seems like a decent time to try to sign the Belgium international after Chelsea’s failure to finish in the top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Hazard is unlikely to fulfil his potential of winning the competition at a club that has been in and out of it in recent times, and that would surely hurt his Ballon d’Or chances as well.
For now, however, it seems a move for the 27-year-old to make the switch to the Bernabeu is surely off the table due to Perez’s reported stance and with Zidane gone.