Will Eden Hazard become the world’s most expensive footballer this year?
Superstar Chelsea F.C. midfielder Eden Hazard is no stranger to speculation. Rumours have been swirling about a possible departure from his current team of over six years for a while now, with even his family members having to step into the fray to dispel the chatter.
How long Hazard will stick on at Chelsea remains to be seen, but if one thing is certain, it’s that his departure would certainly be a blow for the club. His time at Chelsea has seen him rise to become one of the best-known talents in the industry, having scored close to 100 goals for the club and having decisively won 30 matches single-handedly.
His global profile means that a potential transfer could see Hazard becoming the most expensive footballer on Earth and possibly in history. Though, who exactly would pay for him remains a topic of intense debate. The football profiling site Transfermarkt has his current value pegged at a whopping £135 million, which makes him the ninth most highly-valued player in the world at the moment, right behind Barca midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
This could all change if a genuine transfer is on the cards, with it being entirely possible that Eden Hazard could become the world’s most expensive player before the year is out. Historically, there have been some truly eye-watering transfer fees that have defied expectations.
The widely-reported transfer of Andy Carroll from Newcastle to Liverpool back in 2011 cost a then-unprecedented £35 million, equivalent to what a certain lucky someone could buy with a Lotto jackpot if they were to win the UK Lotto’s biggest-ever prize, which was £35 million exactly. Similarly, the record-breaking French Lotto jackpot of £24 million would have been enough to pay for Antoine Griezmann’s transfer to Madrid.
While these numbers pale in comparison to Hazard’s potential value, it’s worth noting that both of these transfers fetched sums that nobody at the time was expecting. This means that Hazard, who is already not far from being the most high-value footballer of all time (although the current top spot is held by Mbappe, who is worth an estimated £160 million), could easily shatter expectations should he leave Chelsea this year.
It’s worth noting that the player himself has actually gone on the record to explicitly rule out leaving Chelsea anytime soon, in response to rumours that he’s being eyed up for a transfer to Madrid. It’s worth noting, however, that in that same interview, he acknowledged that he might just be the best and most sought-after player in the world at the moment, implying that the right offer from the right club could change everything.
We also know by now that taking a footballer at his word is pure folly, given the spate of top players who have made big moves shortly after promising that nothing of the sort would happen. Whatever happens to Hazard in the future, you can bet that the rumours of his departure from Chelsea will only intensify.
