Eden Hazard has agreed terms with Real Madrid that will see him double his Chelsea wages, reports Evening Standards.
Hazard's move to Madrid, which could cost up to £130million, is expected to be announced within the next 24 hours.
After the two clubs agreed an initial fee yesterday worth £88m plus add-ons that could contribute another £42m, Hazard, who is on international duty with Belgium, met with his legal team to finalise the contract.
Standard Sport understands it took just a few hours for Hazard to accept an offer which will see him increase his salary from £200,000 to £400,000-a-week. The attacking midfielder will be handed a five-year deal and become one of the best-paid players at the Bernabeu.
Chelsea's chances of signing an immediate replacement are in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who this morning confirmed the club have appealed against Fifa's two-window transfer ban imposed over the signing of foreign minors.
Hazard is set to be unveiled at the end of next week, after Belgium play the second of their two Euro 2020 qualifiers against Scotland on Tuesday night.
Hazard's move to Real has been in the pipeline since he admitted at the end of last summer's World Cup that he wanted “to discover something different” and insisted “you know my preferred destination”.
capitalise
120
I wish Eden Hazard nothing but the best and while I have long had distaste for Real Madrid as a club, it will be impossible to root against Eden Hazard. I hope he lights La Liga on fire. He won’t be the best player in the league in Spain, but he can at least try and make a claim for 2nd best. It’s easy to get sad and think the worst. But Chelsea Football Club will be ok. We will move on from this. We always find ways to move on from adversity. I’m excited to see what no Hazard set up looks like.
dream888
71
with that ends a chapter in Chelsea Football Club’s history. When Eden Hazard tweeted “I have signed for Champions League winners” in 2012, nobody (except maybe few) could have foreseen what the following 7 years would have brought - both the good and the bad. In some ways, he’s emblematic of the club’s decline in reputation. He was oft criticized (most notably in 2014 and 2015) for his weak mentality. He had all the talent in the world but if he had a more aggressive mindset, he could have been as good as Ronaldo and Messi. Gary Neville once openly criticized him on TV after a 2-1 win v West Ham on the opening day. He showed how after about 65-70 minutes, Hazard stopped playing with intensity and Conte was right to sub him off for Michy Batshuayi. It was a fair criticism. Criticism you heard too often from neutrals who watched Hazard on some level of regularity. Our infamous 2015/16 season was marred in controversy and continued failure and in times of despair, our best player had gone missing (which wound up being part injury, part bad form). He only had 3 Champions League knockout stage goals (3 penalties) despite appearing in 12 such matches, we didn’t get past the Round of 16 but one time in those 7 years. No, I’m not saying all of this was his fault. But rather he represents a time in our history where it’s gone sideways. Despite all the talent at his disposal that it could have been so much more.
Lucesluck
50
They say he's one of the best players in the world, which for any other team is a shitty negotiation tactic, and for a team that grows money on trees it is an even shittier negotiation tactic, and STILL they think it's ok to pay a stupidly low fee... His contract length is irrelevant. The transfer value is irrelevant when you compare it to what we pay people in salaries every year. But it matters for FFP. If they want Hazard, they have to pay so much that it actually makes a difference to their FFP balance, so that they actually can't sign and discard every star player in the world. That is the only thing that matters for competition anymore.
Princespark6
47
Congratulations 🎆 EDEN.. 🙏 Thanks for the Successful 7years we spent together at Stamford bridge 🌉. Thanks 🙏 for all Your Contributions and Achievements in Helping CFC one of the Most Successful Team in Europe 🇪🇺. Thanks for all the Trophies 🏆 we share with you. Your Calmness and Humbleness speaks the truth in you. We are ❤️ Solidly behind you where ever you go. We wish you injury 🆓 ÷More Trophies 🏆 & Honours to your Cabinet 🗄 + Once again we say Goodbye in a Hard way to our future Balon 'D'Or and enjoy more successful season ahead. ONCE 🔂 A BLUE ✅ REMAINS A BLUE... FROM E. PRINCE
Nesaiknruy_Legend
29
Honestly a mistake to immediately double his wages cos he went there as a player with a dream to play for the club but now he could be corrupted by the money he earns like Sanchez for example.... Hazard is incredibly talented but he clearly didn't go for the money so throwing money at him is a mistake, he isnt motivated by financial gain otherwise he would have left Chelsea for Madrid years ago...