Injuries have prevented Eden Hazard from showing just how good he can be at Real Madrid, but it’s hard to put that transfer down as anything other than a disaster when you consider that it was reported the fee could rise to almost £150m.
The only time he was able to stay fit for a solid run of games came at the end of last season where he put together a great partnership with Karim Benzema and Real won the title, but he’s had the same issues over and over this season and he just hasn’t been sharp at all.
It now looks like Real Madrid are ready to move on, and a report last night from Calciomercato suggested that Chelsea and Roma were the leading candidates to sign him.
Chelsea were listed as the favourites because Roma will have a tough time matching his reported €15m annual salary, but there may have been an attraction in Jose Mourinho taking the job as they stated that Hazard has said he wanted to play for the Portuguese manager again.
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Any interest from Roma was going to be dependent on Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving on after his outstanding season, but Football-Italia have now reported that he’s set to sign a new contract so that should end any faint interest they had in the Belgian star.
That now suggests that Chelsea are going to be the only team who have an interest in signing Hazard, but you do have to wonder if it’s really the right move to make.
If you could guarantee that he would get back to his best and the deal would make financial sense then of course the fans would take him back in a heartbeat, but the alternative could be a tough one to take.
It’s possible that he’ll cost too much, he’ll never get back to full fitness and the fans will be left with tainted memories if he’s a shadow of his former self.
It would be a huge story if it does happen and it would also be exciting to see, but the main thing for Hazard is finding a club that allows him to get back to his best next season.