Chelsea Turn Down Real Madrid

By Joshua Walters

Chelsea are reportedly playing hardball with Real Madrid over Eden Hazard as the English club is said to have turned down Los Blancos’ latest attempt to sign the Belgian.

The Chelsea talisman has never hidden his desire to play for Real Madrid, but the Sun reports on Monday that the Blues have turned down Zinedine Zidane’s first major attempt to sign the player.

The reason, it is said, is that Chelsea intends to keep their talisman at the club until the expiration of his contract and, as a result, are not in any mood to entertain any suitors until then.

The Sun claims that Los Blancos have made initial contact to signing the Belgian ace, but their efforts have proven to be futile.

The English tabloid reveals that the Spanish giants made an initial bid of $93M to Chelsea, knowing that the player has the interest to join them, but the deal has been shut by Chelsea's executives.

There is, however, some hope in there for Real Madrid, as Chelsea did not shut the door to further negotiations with the Spanish giants as speculations suggest that the Blues have taken that posture because they want Madrid to up their bid.

According to The Sun's report, Chelsea will not let Hazard leave if the team interested in his services does not come up with a check for $130M.

Hazard's contract with Chelsea ends in 2020, and the team is not expected to let the Belgian leave easily due to FIFA's pending decision on their transfer ban.

Nevertheless, having signed Christian Pulisic already in January, the player's wish to join Real Madrid seems to be closer than ever.