According to Don Balon, Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for his move to the Santiago Bernabéu breaking down this summer. The Belgian international looked set to follow his then-club and country teammate Thibaut Courtois to Real, but the report blames Perez and jealousy for the deal not going through.

Signed from LOSC Lille in 2012, Hazard has gone on to make over 300 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea, scoring and creating more than 150 goals in this time. He’s won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup and one Europa League crown during his time at Stamford Bridge, but that looked to be all coming to an end at the end of last season.

Chelsea greatly underperformed domestically, with manager Antonio Conte expected to be relieved of his duties, which potentially opened the door for their big-name players to exit. Hazard and Willian were linked with moves to Real and Barcelona/Manchester United respectively, but it was Courtois who did eventually broker a move away from the Bridge, joining Real.

And with Hazard being courted by Los Blancos even before he joined Chelsea – seemingly requesting Lille only sell him to the Liga giants in 2011 – it seemed obvious there was a mutual attraction. But despite Real needing a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo (who joined Juventus), a deal never happened and now he has to focus on Chelsea, at least until January.

Stats from Transfermarkt.