The one thing that could keep Real Madrid target Eden Hazard at Chelsea this summer

In a time of footballers joining and leaving clubs as often as a Jose Mourinho mood-swing, Eden Hazard is something of an anomaly.

The mercurial Belgian playmaker is easily the sort of player who could have had a stop-start career, bouncing from one top European club to another for big money moves but in his 11 years as a professional he has played for just two clubs; Lille and Chelsea. Now, however, it appears he is ready to make it three.

Ever since Hazard broke into the Lille first team aged 17 he has been linked with a move to Real Madrid. Zinedine Zidane even recommended him to the Spanish giants after he had only played a handful of games for the French side. But instead he moved to Chelsea in 2012 and has stayed there six years, which is a long time in football, let alone for a Chelsea player.

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The 27-year-old has been linked with a move to the Bernabeu pretty much every transfer window since he became a regular at Lille and by now has almost given up trying to convince people he’s happy at Stamford Bridge and not entertaining a move to Spain. It’s the sort of transfer that everyone knows is going to happen at some point.

The latest reports suggest Hazard has told Chelsea team-mate Thibaut Courtois that Real Madrid will swap Isco for him this summer; a deal that may well be a win for all parties. And the win that Hazard needs now most in his career is the big one; the Champions League.

In France and England over the past decade he has pretty much won everything; Player of the Year in both countries, a league title or two, a cup and numerous Team of the Year and Player of the Month awards. But the one trophy that has evaded his grasp is the European Cup.

Indeed he joined Chelsea a few weeks after they won that trophy in 2012 – shocking Bayern Munich, Roberto Di Matteo and pretty much everyone in Germany – tweeting: “I’m signing for the Champions League winner”. At the time it was just a vague enough tweet to keep everyone guessing about his destination but in June that year he was unveiled as a Blue.

Now, aged 27, Hazard is approaching his footballing peak and is running out of chances to win the Champions League and, let’s face it, has earned the chance to move to someone like Real Madrid. He stuck it out at Lille until he was 22 instead of moving before he had proven himself there and he has stayed at Chelsea for six years – playing through five different managers.

In a way he is unique for a Chelsea player. Most join when they are still a teenager and get farmed out on multiple loan deals before leaving without having played many first-team games only to return to the Premier League years later for big money. Hazard could have easily been another of those but did it the smart way.

He was instrumental in both Premier League title wins in 2015 and 2017 and has been one of the few constants at the club in an ever-changing environment of managers and players. He has been the most un-Chelsea player at Chelsea and in doing so has earned his big move to Spain.

The only thing that might keep him in West London, however, would be the inevitable change of manager this summer. Antonio Conte is almost certainly on his way out this summer having failed spectacularly to defend last season’s Premier League and no-one will be happier than Hazard, who the Italian has constantly either played out of position or subbed off early in games.

Even Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has hinted on how Conte is mis-using the Belgium star. “For me personally, it’s hard to play well if you only get the ball three times,” said Martinez. “Eden is not a false nine, for me. At Chelsea, that can work with guys like Pedro around him, but with us we still have Romelu [Lukaku], Michy [Batshuayi], even Dries [Mertens] can play there. I’m not going to put Hazard there.”

But even if the Italian leaves Hazard is likely to follow him. The chance to join up with Zidane, the man who recommended him to Real Madrid all those years ago, is too tempted to turn down – although it remains to be seen whether the Frenchman will even be in charge by then.

Since the day he broke into the Lille side and became their youngest ever goalscorer, Hazard was always destined for Real Madrid. Many have moved to the Bernabeu before him too soon but the Belgian has bided his time and is ready to make his move. If Zidane rocks up at Chelsea this summer, though, well…that would make things interesting.