Barcelona reportedly turn their attentions to Eden Hazard

It’s fair to say the rumor mill is really ramping up as the end of the World Cup approaches. Yesterday the talk was of a mega-bid from PSG for Philippe Coutinho, and today it’s all about how Barcelona quite fancy a piece of Eden Hazard.

The Chelsea star, who will play for Belgium against France in tonight’s World Cup semi-finals, is on the front page of Sport as talk of interest from Barcelona emerges.

Sport

Apparently the 27-year-old wants to leave Chelsea to play Champions League football (the Blues finished fifth in the Premier League last season so it’s the Europa League for them next season).

Barcelona have been working secretly to see if a move would be possible, and it’s thought Chelsea would be open to selling one of their key men. Yet Barcelona would have to dig very deep to land Hazard who has wages of €15 million a season.

It’s not the first time Hazard has been linked with a move away from Chelsea but usually those rumours have seen him connected with Real Madrid. In fact just recently he told BeIN Sports that “Real is everyone’s dream” although he also went on to say “but the blue jersey suits me well so it does not bother me if I stay.”

Chelsea are in a bit of chaos ahead of the new season. Manager Antonio Conte was widely expected to leave over the summer but remains in charge for now and took charge of pre-season training on Monday.

The Italian still has a year left on his deal but the likelihood is that he will be sacked. Maurizio Sarri is expected to replace him at the helm, but he’s still contracted to Napoli which is all a bit messy.

Meanwhile, Hazard is still in Russia chasing World Cup glory, and if he shines against France and makes it to the final his price tag is likely to rise even further.