Chelsea have clause to match first offer on any Thorgan Hazard bid — report

The second of the Hazard brothers, Thorgan Hazard has been in the news regularly since leaving Chelsea permanently three years ago, linked back with his former club frequently in an effort to make that transfer not so permanent after all.

Initial rumors had even claimed that Chelsea had a buy-back on the now 24-year-old attacking midfielder, and while those claims have never been confirmed or denied, a new report from SportBild claims that the clause is actually a right to first offer rather than a straight buy-back. What that means is that if Borussia Monchengladbach were to accept an offer for Thorgan, Chelsea woud have to be given the option to match it and have their bid accepted automatically as well. It’s a small technicality but one that does give Chelsea an advantage — other teams might choose different targets where they could avoid having to compete with a team like Chelsea (and maybe conduct their business more in secret/privately).

That’s not to say that Thorgan’s pushing for an exit at Gladbach and with 2.5 years still left on his contract, there’s certainly no rush to do so.

“England is appealing, but when you speak to players who play there, they also tell you that Germany seems like an great league. We have the best stadiums, the best infrastructures. The atmosphere is also ‘hotter’ than in England”.

“I listen to what is being said about me, but it’s not something I bother myself with. My father deals with off the pitch stuff. Apparently, a few clubs are interested, but we’ll analyse all that at the end of the season”.

-Thorgan Hazard; Sport/Foot via Sport Witness

Thorgan Hazard is having his best season yet for Gladbach, having already scored more goals than in any of his previous three seasons there (and is just one behind in terms of assists). He’s recently been linked with a €30m move to Leicester City as Riyad Mahrez’s potential replacement. Would Chelsea consider €30m for Thorgan money well spent? It certainly wouldn’t be the worst deal in this day and age.