Wednesday 29 March 2017 11:23, UK
Real Madrid are in a "very good situation" financially but may not be willing to pay £100m to sign Chelsea's Eden Hazard, says former president Ramon Calderon.
The Spanish giants want to sign Hazard, according to Sky sources, but talks between the clubs have not taken place and the forward is under contract until June 2020.
A report in Spanish newspaper Marca on Tuesday morning claimed Chelsea would be willing to sell the forward to Real. The Blues do not comment on what they regard as media speculation and rumour and declined to offer a response to that report.
However, Calderon claims any potential move would depend on the wishes of the Belgian and says that would be key if the Champions League holders were to take the 26-year-old to the Bernabeu.
When asked if Real would break the transfer record, Calderon told Sky Sports News HQ: "I don't know but I guess if Chelsea are going to let him go they will have to ask for a lot of money.
"That bar of £100m - I don't know if Real are willing to pay that amount of money. Financially we are in a very good situation but I don't know if there is any possibility of doing that or if they are willing to pay that amount of money.
"Chelsea is not a selling club so economically the bar is set very high after the transfers of [Gareth] Bale and [Paul] Pogba so it won't be easy at all.
"First of all the player must decide to leave. That is what happens with top players. I had that experience with Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben when I signed him from Chelsea. They have to say they want to leave. That is the first premise to getting a deal done.
"As I said the bar has been set very high with Pogba going for more than €100m so I guess Chelsea will be trying to get a lot of money for him because he is a fantastic player."
Calderon re-iterated that a major part of Real Madrid securing big-name signings is the desire of those players to join the club.
"The main point as I said before is that the player is willing to leave and is willing to come to Real," Calderon said.
"It happened with Cristiano. [Sir Alex] Ferguson is not very keen on Real Madrid and he proved that with an interview a few weeks ago. He didn't want him to come to Real and he offered him to Barcelona but the player said 'I want to go to Real Madrid' and that's it. That's why he came."
Hazard, who joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012, has been rejuvenated under Antonio Conte this season and has played a pivotal role as the Blues have opened up a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League with 10 games to go.
