Real Madrid reportedly must pay 255mn euros for Hazard and Courtois
Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws claims that Chelsea will demand 225 million euros for Eden Hazard and 30-35 million euros for his compatriot Thibault Courtois.
If Eden Hazard signs for Madrid, he could become the most expensive player in history. According to Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws, Chelsea will demand 225 million euros for the Belgian international, three million more than the 222 million PSG paid for Neymar last summer.
The same newspaper also claims that Chelsea want between 30 and 35 million euros for their Belgian goalkeeper Thibault Courtois, which means that Real Madrid would have to spend between 255 million and 260 million euros to bring the two World Cup bronze medal winners to the Bernabeu.
Courtouis and Hazard's situations differ at Chelsea
Although Courtois has linked his future with Hazard’s, their situations are very different. Courtois, whose contract ends in June 2019, has already turned down an extension offer from Stamford Bridge, and has expressed his desire on several occasions to return to Spain to be closer to his children, who live in Madrid. With his contract set to expire in less than a year, this could be Chelsea’s last chance to cash in, before he becomes a free agent. And it seems that they have already lowered their original asking price of 50 million euros.
Hazard, meanwhile, still has just under two years left on his contract, which expires in June 2020. But the winger has left the door open to a possible move to Real Madrid for a while now and, just a few days, ago said that, “After six wonderful years at Chelsea it might be time to discover something different.”
Transfer market deadline prompts haste
If Madrid are eager to sign Hazard and Courtois, they will be conscious of the fact that the Premier League transfer market closes on 9 August, quite sooner than the 31 August market closure date in Spain. If either or both players are going to leave London, Chelsea will also eager to move quickly, in order to for the club have time to find adequate replacements before the 9 August transfer deadline.
