If you are a supporter of Chelsea, you have gotten used to experiencing fairytales. Their two Champions League triumphs, in 2012 and 2021 respectively, materialised after changing managers during the middle of the season, and the money thrown at the team by owner Roman Abramovich has created memories which will last a lifetime.
However, some memories are best left in the past, and that is exactly what Chelsea should do when weighing up the pros and cons of re-signing former club superstar Eden Hazard.
With 110 goals and 92 assists from his 352 appearances in all competitions, there are going to be Chelsea fans who are salivating at the possibility of the Belgian once again plying his trade at Stamford Bridge.
Nevertheless, the West Londoners are well past the stage of needing to go back in time to strengthen their squad. In fact, the acquisition of Hazard would be regarded as an unnecessary risk unless Real Madrid are prepared to take on one of Chelsea's many unwanted squad members in part-exchange.
There is talk of Los Blancos having the audacity to request Chelsea defender Reece James in part-exchange, but any chance of the Blues academy graduate moving to the Bernabeu is a complete non-starter.
Regardless of the inevitable back-and-forths which would occur if negotiations for Hazard eventually took place, the simple fact of the matter is that Real have no way of coming out on top when trying to increase the price of the 30-year-old.
Hazard has four goals and eight assists from his 37 appearances in La Liga, not the worst contribution when considering that almost a third of those outings have come from the substitutes' bench.
However, this is a player who will cost well in the region of £130m if he fulfils all of his add-ons, and those 37 outings have come over the course of two-and-a-bit seasons.
Injuries have taken their toll on Hazard and his ability to play more than a few games in succession. To his credit, he has featured for 382 minutes across eight matches this season, but that is not something which should entice Chelsea into lodging any sort of bid.
Even if Chelsea were in a position where they needed to look for bargains during the upcoming transfer windows, trying to sign a soon-to-be 31-year-old Hazard would clearly not be the way to go, and astute Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia will know that.
With 2021-22 still very much in its infancy, it would be naive to completely dismiss the chance of a Chelsea return as pure fantasy. If Hazard builds some momentum and Real are sensible at the negotiating table when they need to free up funds for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland, who knows.
That said, Chelsea have defensive and midfield issues to resolve before they take a serious look at freshening up their attack. Would Hazard really represent a "freshening up" in that area of the pitch? It is a categorical no, and Thomas Tuchel could share a similar view when he is quizzed on the matter later this week. body check tags ::
