Chelsea need a ‘miracle’ to keep Hazard despite setting €115m+ asking price — report

Eden Hazard's transfer to Real Madrid seems all but a formality at this point, especially after Zinedine Zidane was re-appointmed at Real Madrid yesterday. The mutual admiration between the French legend and the almost-Chelsea legend is well documented and has fueled these rumors for the past six years.

All hope is not lost until everything’s signed, sealed and delivered of course, though some might say Chelsea would need a “miracle” at this point with Hazard entering the final year of his contract this summer.

One those saying that is Belgian-football oracle, Kristof Terreur, who claims that Real Madrid actually made “official” contact last month already, but Zidane’s appointment (along with the supposed blank cheque he’s getting) will have only confirmed their reignited interest. Chelsea’s hope rests in setting an asking price of “more than” €115m while Real are looking for something closer to €100 million.

That’s hardly solid ground for Chelsea to stand on, especially if Hazard pushes for a move. He was unwilling to pull a Courtois on us last summer (agreeing to stay then pushing to leave at the last minute), but after making it pretty clear that he’s considering a new challenge, him staying is not something we can count on again this summer — especially if his contract remains unsigned.

For Madrid, this is a highly advantageous situation, and they hold basically all the cards — assuming Hazard’s decision, that he supposedly made already, isn’t to actually stay with Chelsea (surely he would’ve signed by now!).

For Chelsea however, this is a lose-lose-lose situation. Even if we were to get the desired €115m, replacing a player of Hazard’s calibre isn’t going to be easy (or cheap). Add in the complications with FIFA and the very real possibility that Chelsea actually wouldn’t even be able to register a replacement, not to mention the uncertain future of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who could possibly step up and help replace Hazard if needed, and just how reliant Chelsea have become on Hazard once again ... and it’s quite evident that this is the darkest timeline.