4. Eden Hazard
World Football was shaken when Hazard expressed his desire to leave Lille and have a move on in his career. Premier League clubs Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea were narrowed down to be the favored destination for the youngster. Then it boiled down to the fact that Chelsea were UCL Champions and thus had convinced Eden Hazard to join them. Arsene Wenger had almost signed him but Chelsea outbid the Gunners on wages offered. ‘All the teams with big budgets in England were after him.
“The transfer price was fixed, because he has a buyout clause, so everybody was at the same level,’ said Wenger. ‘I cannot tell you how close we were to signing him, because I don’t know what Chelsea paid in the end.”