| Prepare to leave next year! |
The French champions have been bullish about holding on to the golden boy of Belgian football, who they value at around the £26 million mark.
Hazard told the Lille hierarchy earlier in the window that he would like to stay in France for one more season before moving to one of Europe’s big guns.
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| Eden Hazard |
But a source close to the 20-year-old playmaker revealed “Eden has said all along that he won’t leave until next year unless the right opportunity comes along. It would need to be a club who can match his ambitions but they are running out of time to get him.”
Arsenal are heading the queue for Hazard and made their interest known to Lille earlier in the window and again in recent weeks.
The two clubs have a good relationship following the sale of Gervinho to the Emirates Stadium last month, while Hazard’s age, ability and technique appeal greatly to Arsene Wenger.
However, the French club are in a strong position to hold on to their prize asset in the window after generating £20m from the sales of three of their title-winning team – Gervinho, Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle and Adil Rami to Valencia.
Arsenal are believed to be unwilling to pay more than £20m for a player who was dropped from the Belgium team for a friendly in June for misconduct following his reaction to being substituted in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
| Hazard and Glen Johnson |
Lille believe that Hazard could be worth another £5m in 12 months’ time if he has another strong season in France, which could enable them to demand more than £30m for a player who has been tracked by all the elite European clubs.
Lille general manager Frederic Paquet has said: "Eden will not be leaving this season. We are aware of interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe but we are not prepared to sell.
"He is very happy here, he understands our project and wants to stay for at least another year."
Wenger has a formidable transfer kitty of £90m to spend before the summer window shuts.
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