Hazard deal to reach £130m with bonuses and add-ons — report

Eden Hazard’s transfer to Real Madrid is getting closer by the minute, with the two teams agreeing a transfer fee at long last, after five months of back and forth negotiations, either last night (Wednesday) or this morning (Thursday). With Hazard himself busy on international duty with Belgium, an announcement may be a little while longer coming (not to mention his presentation at Real Madrid), but all the final details appear to have been ironed out now.

Initial reports yesterday claimed that the transfer fee agreed was “just” €100m (£88m) plus add-ons, which fell some ways short of Chelsea’s supposed hard line in the sand of £130m. With just one year left on Hazard’s contract and a destination already chosen, Chelsea didn’t really have much, if any leverage. Having to “settle” was certainly understandable, if a bit disappointing given Marina Granovskaia’s reputation as a stubborn and excellent negotiator.

But as it turns out, those unspecified add-ons could be quite significant. As reported by Matt Law in the Telegraph, they are worth upwards of £40m, and are “set to earn Chelsea as much as £130m once all the bonuses have been met”.

It’s unclear how easy these bonuses may be to achieve, but presumably they are tied to individual (goals, for example) and team achievements (trophies, wins, etc). Unless Hazard’s move to Madrid turns out to be a massive disaster, which is highly unlikely, Chelsea will be getting significantly more in return for him than £88m.