ESPN pundit Craig Burley has said that Eden Hazard should push through a move to Real Madrid from Chelsea this summer or else he can forget about the prospect in the future. The Belgium international has just 14 months remaining on his Chelsea contract and reports have indicated that Los Blancos are eager to land his services when the transfer window reopens.
Speaking to ESPN FC, Burley indicated that Hazard can’t wait any longer to join the European champions, considering that the age won’t be by his side. He added that Los Blancos are looking into the likes of Neymar and the young Kylian Mbappe, and Hazard’s reluctance to join the club could witness them drop any future interest.
He said: “Time is not on Hazard’s side. If he does not make the move to Real Madrid this summer, he is probably never going to make that move. Because in just over one year’s time they will have moved onto someone else, be it Neymar or Mbappe, or the new kid on the block.He will then be a year older and how do you know he is not going to pick an injury up? Hazard has been a good servant to that football club and has played very well for them. I think that if he wants to make that move to Real Madrid, and I think that he should, then he has to make it this summer.”
Hazard is currently enjoying his best-ever season in the Blues shirt and he has already contributed 19 goals and 13 assists across all competitions. Despite this, he has refused to regularly speak about his Chelsea future beyond the summer and this has given some indication that he could be off the club’s books when the transfer window reopens.
Real Madrid are deemed to have already made initial contact with the Blues’ hierarchy and they are aware that the attacker won’t be available on the cheap. The west London club have placed a £100m price tag on the Belgian ahead of the summer and it remains to be seen whether Los Blancos can manage to negotiate on the sum.
