Transfer rumor ‘body blow’: Real Madrid ‘confident’ of signing Hazard and Kanté, too

A couple transfer rumors that are more fit for the ennui on an international break rather than the excitement of a title run-in have Chelsea facing a “body blow” of losing both Eden Hazard and Diego Costa — that’s in The Sun — while rumors from a couple days ago also claim that Real Madrid want N’Golo Kanté as well. It’s a triple body-blow! Brace yo’selves, fools!

The Diego Costa rumors are neither here nor there (The Sun’s just rolling with Costa’s quotes from a couple days ago when he revealed that he’s not exactly enamored with living in London, but that he does like playing for Chelsea) and there’s every chance that the Hazard bit is just a rehash of things that have happened so far. To be sure, Real Madrid’s probably been “confident” of signing Hazard even back in 2011 or 2012, and so far, nothing of that sort has happened. Hazard himself seems quite happy and settled in London and he may even get a new contract out of all this latest nonsense, so what’s not to like?

The Kanté rumors are a new twist, but those come from the generally unreliable Le 10 Sport (via Sport Witness), so it’s doubtful they’re anything to be concerned about. Kanté joined Chelsea specifically to work with Conte and it’s safe to say that decision has proven to be a rather smart one for all involved. The price thrown around for Kanté is no less than €50m, which does sound juicy, but is probably nothing more than just headline fodder.

So there’s your body blow. I hope you were bracing yourself!