Eden Hazard on Real Madrid’s transfer shortlist for the umpteenth time — report

It is that time of the year again!

If it is an year ending in numbers 0 through 9 and you are about to enter the summer transfer window, you may already know what you are going to get.

Welcome to another round of Eden Hazard-to-Real Madrid exit rumours!

As it is often the case, Spanish newspaper and Madrid mouthpiece Marca open the floodgates to what will probably be another obnoxious rush of reports claiming Eden wants out of Chelsea, despite claiming the exact opposite on multiple occasions. In this scenario, he would be one of the names who would be a fallback option if the “Neymar operation” to rescue world’s most expensive player from Paris Saint-Germain ends in failure.

In Eden’s case, we will probably see the same arguments to “justify” his attraction to Madrid. The opportunity to work with idol Zinedine Zidane, who saved himself from sacking by winning a third-consecutive Champions League trophy, which is a competition that Hazard desperately (?) wants to win as well.

There is however one actual risk looming this year. Eden has yet to extend his current deal with Chelsea, which is set to run out in two years, in 2020. And even though the report above does not mention his fellow countryman and teammate Thibaut Courtois, the goalkeeper’s situation is even more urgent as he only has one year left on his contract.

But their focus is all on the upcoming World Cup at the moment. So until the competition is over for Belgium, the doomsday reports will be nothing more than idle speculation.