Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Scam lifts lid on deal for Hazard
EXCLUSIVE
CHELSEA will have banked almost £150million for Eden Hazard once Real Madrid pay the fee for the Belgium star in full.
The total value of the deal that took Hazard to the Bernabeu in June 2019 has been exposed, after amateur club AFC Tubize uncovered a scam to rob them of a form of ‘development fee’ they were due on the transfer.
The financial details that have since been made public help show how the Blues have bankrolled Frank Lampard’s near£250m summer spree.
Real agreed to pay Chelsea £148.15m for Hazard in three instalments.
The London club were paid £37.04m when the Belgian star moved to Spain last year and have banked a further £51.85m this summer. A final payment of £59.26m is scheduled next year.
FIFA regulations mean AFC Tubize, who play in Belgium’s top amateur division, were entitled to
£740,000 in recognition of the role they played in Hazard’s development for two years from the age of 12. This is also being paid in three instalments.
But fraudsters attempted to steal the latest payment by setting up a company in Korea called ‘AFC Tubize SA’, then asking a German bank to make a demand for the cash on their behalf.
The crime was thwarted because the blundering crooks reckoned that Real had only paid £92.59m for Hazard – and that blooper alerted the bank to inform the police.
Blues boss Lampard was unable to spend any money when he took over at the club in July 2019, because Chelsea had been hit by a transfer ban.
But after steering them to qualify for the Champions League, he has invested heavily this summer on Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva.
Now a deal in the region of £25m for Rennes keeper Edouard Mendy is also close.