HAZARD EAGER FOR SUMMER EXIT FROM CHELSEA

EDEN HAZARD has made up his mind to leave Chelsea, but he will not be sold this month. Paris Saint-Germain believe they are the front-runners to sign the Belgian in the summer but they face competition from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The mega-rich French club are confident they can land the playmaker and it is understood Hazard has told close friends he will leave Chelsea at the end of the season. PSG will even try to capitalise on his unsettled situation at Stamford Bridge with a cut-price offer of around £45million, though Chelsea consider him to be worth almost double that. Chelsea defender David Luiz was sold to PSG for £50m in 2014 and the Barclays Premier League club will demand more than that for last season’s PFA Player of the Year. Hazard is understood to be resigned to leaving, despite last season signing a fiveand-a-half-year contract worth £200,000 a week. A club insider said problems started when Hazard’s relationship with Jose Mourinho broke down earlier in the season and added: ‘In his head, he has already left. It would take some U-turn to keep him.’ Chelsea face PSG in the Champions League last 16, with the first leg on February 16 at the Parc des Princes. It will give Hazard’s potential suitors a chance to watch their top target. Hazard wants to continue playing in Europe’s elite competition next

season and Chelsea are unlikely to be able to offer him that as they sit 14th in the table. That, though, is partly down to Hazard having struggled for form and fitness this season in a Chelsea side who have made the worst title defence in Premier League history. The 24-year-old has not scored for Chelsea in 250 days, since netting the winner that sealed the Premier League title against Crystal Palace on May 3. On Sunday he went off with a groin injury after 16 minutes as Chelsea won 3-0 at Crystal Palace. The squad trained at Cobham yesterday after being given two days off by interim manager Guus Hiddink following the win at Selhurst Park. Despite his poor form, Hazard is still considered one of the best footballers in the world and PSG believe they can convince him to return to France where he previously played for Lille. Yet Real Madrid pose a threat to PSG’s ambition after Hazard previously revealed his admiration for the Spanish giants, while Zinedine Zidane is also an idol of his. The Frenchman took over at Real Madrid after Rafa Benitez was sacked on Monday and his presence at the Bernabeu could tempt Hazard to move to Spain instead. Back in November, Zidane said: ‘After Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Hazard is my favourite player. It is spectacular to see him play. Do I see him going to Real Madrid? I love the player, that’s all I will say.’ PSG see themselves as an emerging force in football and think Hazard would be a world-class addition. They have won Ligue 1 for the last three seasons and reached the Champions League quarter-finals last year, where they lost 5-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Barcelona.