Eden Hazard has finally secured his dream move to Real Madrid this summer for a transfer fee of around €100 million.
The Belgian playmaker joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012 and for seven long years, he was one of the best that the Premier League had to offer.
And Real Madrid had been trying to sign him for a couple of seasons now but finally, Zidane Zidane has gotten his hands on him and many believe that Cristiano Ronaldo moving out of the Bernabeu acted as a catalyst for Eden Hazard to force his way out of Chelsea.
But what many people might not know that before Chelsea actually got their hands on Eden Hazard back in 2012, Arsenal had the opportunity to sign him under the Arsene Wenger era.
Speaking to Goal, former Gunners mediator Dick Law has now revealed why the North London side chose not to gamble on the Belgium international despite having the funds to buy him.
“We had the financial muscle, but the risk-reward calculation wasn’t clear,” he said.
“Spending a lot of money on a player that didn’t work out would have really put the club in some financial straits.
“Did we miss out on talents? Certainly. I remember sitting in meetings with Steve [Rowley], Ivan [Gazidis] and Arsene [Wenger] and gnashing our teeth over Thibaut Courtois. We knew he was good.
“Eden Hazard as well, we wanted to do that deal. But there was a sense of responsibility and running the club prudently, all the time knowing that every £1 we spent we had to act as if it was our money.
“It was very, very difficult.”
Arsenal were not the only club who were following Eden Hazard while he was playing for Lille but Chelsea winning the UEFA Champions League that very same year really helped the playmaker make up his mind to move to Stamford Bridge.
And he moved to Real Madrid this summer with two Premier League, one FA Cup and one League Cup titles in his bag.
