Man Utd missed out on Hazard transfer 'after refusal to make illegal payment'

Manchester United were among those in the race to sign Eden Hazard back in 2012, eventually losing out to Chelsea, with the Red Devils refusing to hand a backhand payment to the Belgian's former agent

Manchester United missed out on signing Eden Hazard in 2012 because they refused to pay his agent a secret multi-million payment. The Red Devils were among those pursuing the Belgian more than a decade ago.

Hazard's exploits with Lille had seen a number of Premier League clubs take note and United agreed a fee with the French club. Personal terms had also been sorted but his then agent, John Bico, then demanded an extra payment off the books reports The Times.

It's claimed Bico had suggested to club officials that they pay him £1million as well as several million more, which was to come directly from the owners rather than club accounts. United made it clear they wouldn't agree to the deal, which would have been a clear breach of Premier League and UEFA rules. A financial agreement of that type would have bypassed club accounts and not been counted towards any Financial Fair Play calculations.

United’s stance meant they pulled out of the race to sign Hazard and Chelsea swooped in, landing his services for £32m just days after winning the Champions League. A Premier League investigation is continuing amid allegations that in 2013 an offshore company belonging to Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s owner at the time, made a €7m (£6m) payment to Bico via a Dubai company.

There is no sign that Hazard knew anything about his agent's demands.

Hazard had been United's main target that summer with their interest in him dating back years. Jimmy Ryan, their director of youth football at the time, who was also close with Sir Alex Ferguson, had been monitoring Hazard since he was a 15. He saw him when he was on Lille's books and believed he was developing into one of the best players in Europe.

After Abramovich sold the Blues to the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium their due diligence during their takeover led the new owners to self-report the club over alleged irregular payments, connected to transfers during the previous ownership, to the Premier League.

United's failure to sign Hazard saw them instead go after Shinji Kagawa, who had excelled at Borussia Dortmund. Hazard meanwhile was an instant hit in the English top flight and, three years after joining the Blues, he was named PFA Player of the Year as Chelsea won the title.

Hazard would leave Stamford Bridge in 2019 after a number of successful seasons in west London. He is regarded among the most impressive foreign imports of the modern era, but his switch to Real Madrid didn't work out for either party and he retired in 2023.