We’ve had countless Eden Hazard updates recently, but this one might just be particularly significant.
For one thing it comes from L’Equipe in France, somewhere that the former Lille player obviously has plenty of links.
They are saying that the Belgian will join Real for €100m after the Europa League final later this month.
Certainly it seems unlikely anything will be confirmed before then, but the fee is interesting. It had previously been thought we were holding out for more money than that, but clearly Real have worn us down.
Or, perhaps we’ve added more clauses and fees that make the initial fee lower, but could eventually raise the figure. All of this will become clear as we go on, but whatever the truth of this, it’s hard to deny the momentum keeps building towards a move.
He’s never quite closed the door, but at this stage it’s clear it’s just a matter of money, and we shouldn’t be holding out any hope any more. It’s better to get excited about who we might sign replace him.