Premier League
Calderon: Real Can Spend £100m On Hazard
Eden Hazard, not Chelsea, will decide if he will move to Real Madrid this summer, according to former Real president Ramon Calderon.
Chelsea insist Hazard is happy at Stamford Bridge and is settled in London with his young family. He is under contract until June 2020.
But Real’s perennial interest has resurfaced, with speculation again linking Hazard with a switch to the Bernabeu.
And Calderon reckons a player has the power to force through a move if that is his wish and Real would be prepared to pay a world record fee in the region of £100million.
Calderon told TalkSPORT: “Chelsea aren’t a selling club, so it wouldn’t be easy, but as always it would depend on the wishes of the player. If he wants to leave, he will leave – that’s always the point.
“It’s all about the player. The player must say, ‘I want to leave and go to Real Madrid’, and that will be the moment they start negotiating.”
The Belgium playmaker has been rejuvenated under head coach Antonio Conte as the Blues have taken a 10-point lead with 10 Premier League games to go.
Conte has repeatedly said contracts and the future of his players will be discussed at the end of the season.
Hazard, who joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012, idolised Zinedine Zidane, now the Real head coach, when he was growing up.
He was linked with Real after Chelsea’s 2014-15 title success, but his poor performances last term and Real’s transfer embargo meant speculation subsided – until now.
Calderon added: “Chelsea will ask for a lot of money, I think that’s what the situation will be at the end of the season.
“Chelsea knows quite well how much has been paid in the market over the last few years, with (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Gareth) Bale and (Paul) Pogba – £100million is now the bar.
“That bar has been set by those transfers, so I think that’s how much a club like Chelsea would be asking for and the economy at Real Madrid is healthy – I don’t think that wouldn’t be a problem for them.”
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has also been linked with a switch to Real, while forward James Rodriguez and striker Alvaro Morata, who had a spell at Conte’s former club Juventus, have been the subject of speculation over moves to Chelsea.
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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