London: Real Madrid will make a new bid for Eden Hazard after the Europa League final, but do not expect Chelsea to do the Belgian any special favours for winning the trophy.
Hazard will make what is anticipated to be his final Chelsea appearance against Arsenal in Baku on Wednesday, with Real planning to reopen negotiations.
But hopes of a deal being struck have been hit by Chelsea’s £130 million (Dh607 million) valuation and Real have received no indication that Hazard will be rewarded with his asking price being dropped if he leads the club to Europa League success.
That means Real are braced for more tough negotiations, even though they remain confident they will eventually land their target.
Real, who rate Hazard at about £88 million, made their first move for him in March but talks between the clubs were recently put on hold. Hazard has told Chelsea he wants to go to the Bernabeu and will not sign a new contract even if the club try to hold him to the final year of his deal.
Talks have been complicated by Chelsea’s two-window Fifa transfer ban and the injury to Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is viewed as Hazard’s long-term Chelsea successor on the left side.
Despite the fact Hazard has made his preference clear, teammates Willian and Pedro claim to have no inside dressing-room knowledge of where the forward will be playing next season.
“It’s difficult to say anything because we don’t know what will happen, but what I can say is that if he goes then I will be sad,” said Willian.
Pedro added: “The most important thing is to focus on the team, the final and get the trophy.”
Meanwhile, Paris St Germain manager Thomas Tuchel has signed a contract extension which will keep him with the Ligue 1 champions until the end of the 2020-21 season, the club announced on Saturday.
Tuchel, who was hired by PSG last year, finished the 2018-19 campaign with mixed results despite winning the league title by 16 points.
The 2017-18 domestic quadruple winners finished runners-up in the domestic cup (Coupe de France) and were knocked out in the last-16 of the Champions League and quarter-finals of the French League Cup.
“Paris Saint-Germain is pleased to announce Thomas Tuchel’s contract extension for an additional season,” the club said in a statement. “The German coach has now signed until 30 June 2021 with the French capital’s club.” Tuchel, who coached German club Borussia Dortmund for two seasons before the switch to PSG, thanked the club’s supporters and chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi.
“This only reinforces my ambition to bring this team to the very top through hard work,” Tuchel said. “I’m also very touched by the backing of our supporters, and I’m sure that the best is yet to come for our club.”
