Arsenal red alert as Lille admit Hazard will leave

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will join some of Europe's biggest clubs in the battle to sign Belgium international starlet Eden Hazard, after his current club's director Frederic Paquet today confirmed that the forward will be quitting Lille at the end of the season. Chelsea and Real Madrid are also in the race to sign the player.

Eden Hazard helped his club to Ligue 1 success last year, before being persistently linked with a move away from France to the Premier League. Only two months ago, Hazard admitted that his long term goal would be to play for a bigger club, and that he preferred a move to Spain with Barcelona or Real Madrid.


Today, Lille's chief director Frederic Paquet has now confirmed that Hazard will quit the club in the summer; a statement that is sure to spark a flurry of transfer offers and activity for the player's signature.


Paquet said: "Eden will leave at the end of the season, that is almost a certainty."


However, Hazard will not be allowed to leave on the cheap, as Lille are hopeful that they can secure a fee in the region of £25 million for the player.