Jase

Or ask Alexis Sanchez...

Guess both clubs will agree on a fee at some point this summer BUT in the event that they do not, then I do wonder what will Hazard do...run down his contract?

There have been rumors that Marcelo might leave in the summer.

You might be right about Kroos - as he's only 29 - but Modric turns 34 later this year and Zidane has been absolutely doing his best in pretending Bale doesn't exit. Has been leaving him out of games and giving non-committed answers when asked about his future. They will splash the cash but there's gonna be a limit to it or otherwise, they will land themselves in FFP trouble - whether that thing is even legit these days is another issue - and it's too easy to say they will get better next year just because of the spending. They will likely get better results but whether they will challenge for the league or Champions League again remain to be seen. Zidane has hardly been pulling any trees since his return.

Regardless, we should be aiming better than settling for Kovacic to be included in the deal. Rather take that extra money and go look elsewhere for someone who will contribute more!

Those names you mentioned there, some are already on the wrong side of 30 and some are incredibly inconsistent. They might have more quality than us but they are hardly a genuine top quality side at the moment. Gonna be interesting to see if Hazard isn't just a big fish in a small pond and whether he can be consistent week in, week out because we all know what will happen if he isn't.

They are buying promising & potential trouble if rumours are to be believe. Going from Pedro & Willian to Lucas & Asensio isn't exactly a notable step up. He might have won 3 Champions League titles in a row but am really not convinced by Zidane. Madrid were hardly tactically organized during those triumphs and it's hard to tell like how Zidane wanted them to play. Owed a lot to lady luck and individual quality of Ronaldo etc.

Think that might be a reason but not the deal breaker. Those Real Madrid rumors have always been there, even when we were winning league titles and some cups in last 2-4 years.

Remains to be seen. Have seen nothing so far on Kovacic being included in the Hazard deal. We appear to want outright fee for him.

I'm sure Zidane returning is the deciding factor now. He wouldn't be pushing the transfer had Mou or Conte been appointed. Nah. Think he would still want to leave regardless, IMO. He's just desperate to play for Real Madrid.

I guess if we're being honest, we kinda knew he was going to leave for Madrid at some point the second he joined us. It's just maybe a surprise that it's taken 7 years for that to happen.

A manager who wants to keep Kovacic and Higuain shouldn't be trusted at all.

Yup. Wonder where they got the quotes from as quotes from his interviews are embargoed.

Have seen some revealing quotes...but not sure how real they are. 1 more hour...

(cc @Vesper)

Jovic has obviously done well this season but are people not concerned that he might be having one of those 'one season wonder' seasons? Take Belotti for instance, he did very for Torino two seasons ago but have since went off the boil. Another example, Piatek has stopped scoring regularly in last 2-3 months after all his early exploits.

So, you're gonna change your opinion on Sarri if we play well and win the Europa League?

Kepa hardly looks like someone who's desperate to play for Real Madrid. He happily signed a new contract with Athletic after Zidane blocked the move to Real last year, well knowing that the high release clause could have potentially seen clubs shy away from the fee.

Think we all can tell by now that Hazard will very, very likely be leaving the club this summer and it's kinda annoying that he hasn't made his intentions clear publicly and instead, is taking us on this 'will he, won't he?' "tour". Wonder what's going to come out from his latest talk with the press...

Not that I doubt his credibility but seriously, who the hell is feeding Kristof with all these stories?!

If you can't be bothered about this match, then here's the Europa League final thread for you...

Match threads for our remaining games are up! Europa League Final Post-season Friendly