Manchester City are reportedly lining up a sensational move for Chelsea star Eden Hazard.
Spanish outlet Don Balon reports that City boss Pep Guardiola is a huge admirer of the 26-year-old and he is desperate to bring him to the Etihad Stadium next summer.
The report claims that City are not the only side interested in Hazard as Champions League and La Liga winners Real Madrid are also keen to secure the Belgian’s signature.
Good move for Chelsea?
The Blues will find it extremely difficult to hold onto their star man especially if City continue their sensational form and go on to win the big trophies this season.
Chelsea have struggled to replicate last season’s performances and they already find themselves nine points behind the Manchester club with only ten matches played.
Although the Premier League champions have endured a disappointing start to the campaign, they have been peppered with injuries to key players – Hazard being one of them.
The Belgium international slowly starting to find his best form this season, contributing with an assist in the home victory over Watford before notching up the winner goal against Bournemouth on the weekend.
Chelsea cannot afford to sell their best players to their rivals both abroad and domestically regardless of how much money both sides are willing to pay for Hazard.
With the forward’s current contract expiring in 2020, both interested clubs will need to splash the cash in order to sign him.
This Is Futbol rating: 1/10
Likely to happen?
There has been huge speculation surrounding Hazard’s future for past couple of years but he appears to be content with life in London.
Furthermore, Chelsea have surely learnt from their mistakes in selling Nemanja Matic to Premier League rivals Manchester United this summer, which means that Hazard will certainly not be on his way to join forces with Guardiola anytime soon.
Madrid is likely to be the player’s preferred destination but it would mean that the Spanish giants would need to offload one of their attacking trio and right now, this is unlikely to happen.
It is possible that Hazard would like to assess how the club have fared come the end of the season in terms of silverware before making a decision.
This Is Futbol rating: 3/10