Eden Hazard has sent out a come get me plea to Real Madrid in what is the strongest message yet from the Belgian.
Hazard has long been linked with a move to the 13 time European champions, with now former Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane known to be a big admirer of the winger.
However, Zidane’s shock resignation from the Real Madrid hotseat last month has seen rumours die away slightly, with Florentino Perez thought to prefer the signing of £200 million man, Neymar.
It has been a mightily disappointing season for Hazard and Chelsea, missing out on Champions League football after finishing fifth in the Premier League, and as the 27-year-old prepares for Belgium’s opening game in the World Cup, he has thrown fresh doubt on his future by saying a move to Real Madrid interests him.
“As I said before, I won everything in London except the Champions League. If I’m here in my career, it’s thanks to Chelsea,” Hazard told L’Equipe.
“It would be too easy to say: I want to leave because I have done everything. It is for that before everything that I would really like to know what will happen at the club next year.
“I am waiting to see if the coach stays or leaves. If I stay, it will be because the team will be better than the season we have just had. I do not want to stay if we are less good.
“Real Madrid can interest me, everyone knows it. But if tomorrow this club does not want me, we will not talk about it anymore. If they want to buy me, they know what to do.
“Go there for the sake of it… no. It takes a project. I still have a project in Chelsea. If I have a good World Cup, things will be easier.”
Hazard has been stalling on signing a new contract at Stamford Bridge for the best part fo a year, with his current deal set to expire at the end of next season.