According to former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, Eden Hazard came very close to joining Tottenham Hotspurs before he signed for Chelsea.
Harry Redknapp has made claims that Chelsea star Eden Hazard had almost joined Spurs in 2012 from Lille. Redknapp claims he spent four hours at in a Paris airport hotel trying in vain to persuade Eden Hazard to play for Spurs just a few weeks before the Belgian international signed for Chelsea.
Tottenham were on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League in 2012 until Chelsea won the Champions League and qualified in place of Tottenham despite finishing 6th in the league. Before their shocking relegation to the Europa League, Tottenham had identified Hazard as their main transfer target and were positive about the move. According to reports from The Telegraph, Redknapp felt that Hazard was very keen on joining Spurs. ai???I think he was dead keen to come at that time,ai??? he said of the player who was then with Lille. ai???Joe Cole said he thought he was the best player he ever played with. Heai??i??s a fantastic talent and a great player. We pushed on for him. We just couldnai??i??t get it over the line.ai???
The QPR manager reveals that Hazard would have joined Spurs of they had qualified for the Champions League instead of Chelsea. The main factors that affected the 23-year oldai??i??s move to the club were their relegation to the Europa League and Chelsea being crowned the European champions that season. Tottenham had slipped from the third position to fourth in the league table, thus failing to seal Champions League qualification. On the other hand, Chelsea won the Champions League and took the fourth qualification spot from Spurs despite finishing fourth in the league.
Since joining Chelsea for a transfer fee believed to be around A?32 million, Eden Hazard has been hugely successful and has emerged as one of the best young talents in Europe. The midfielder has scored 34 goals in 123 appearances for Chelsea. Hazard has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists so far this season and has received plaudits for his performances. There have also been talks about Eden Hazard being one of the main targets for many European clubs. The Belgium international was closely linked to French club Paris Saint Germain and there were strong rumours about the 23-year old coming close to signing for PSG in the summer.
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