Chelsea star Eden Hazard: I still dream of Real Madrid move but am ready to resume contract talks

Simon Johnson8 October 2018

Eden Hazard is ready to resume negotiations with Chelsea over a new contract but admits he could still end up joining Real Madrid.

Chelsea have yet to make Hazard a fresh offer, even though he has less than two years remaining on his deal, and the Belgian admitted in July he wanted to leave for the Bernabeu.

The club blocked Hazard from leaving and have been rewarded with the best football of his career.

It is understood Chelsea last discussed terms with Hazard in December 2017, when they made him a £300,000-a-week offer.

Hazard intimated after Chelsea’s 3-0 win at Southampton that he could wait till the end of the season before making a decision on his future.

REUTERS

However, when asked if that means he wants to put off contract talks until then, too, he said: “I can talk now. If they come to me, I will talk. Maybe (it is a surprise they haven’t come to me yet).

“I don’t want to say that I am not talking (at all) with the club or the owner. I am talking a lot with them. So we just need to find a good…

“I don’t know (what the time frame will be). I am happy and I don’t need anything (to make me stay). It is not trophies. Of course, when you play, you want to win but I just want to enjoy things on the pitch, like I am at the moment. Then I am happy.”

But the 27-year-old also revealed that the prospect of joining Real is still on his mind, especially because he is aware there may be only one more big move left in his career.

Hazard added: “That’s why I spoke after the World Cup and said that I think it is time to change because I played a great World Cup. I am playing good football.

In Pictures | Southampton vs Chelsea | 07/10/2018

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“Real Madrid is the best club in the world. I don’t want to lie. It is my dream since I was a kid. I was dreaming about this club.

“Sometimes I wake up

and think I want to go. Sometimes I think I want to stay. It is a hard decision. It is my future.

“I don’t want to talk about this every day. I don’t have time but we will talk about my future soon. I think so.”

Hazard wants to make it clear to Chelsea fans that if he does depart, it will not be in the manner Thibaut ­Courtois left Stamford Bridge.

Hat figure: Thibaut Courtois left Chelsea under a cloud
AFP/Getty Images

The goalkeeper is now a hate figure among the club’s supporters after going on strike to force a £35million switch to Real in August. He had also promised on many ­occasions last term that he was going to stay for this season at the very least.

When asked about the messy nature of Courtois’s departure, Hazard said: “I don’t want that. I want what’s good for me but I want what’s good for the club because the club has given me ­everything. I don’t want to say, ‘yes I am signing a new contract’ and then I don’t end up signing. So I will see.”

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