REPORTS: Arsenal Must Pay £26m To Sign Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard, one of Arsenal’s prime targets to replace Samir Nasri in the attacking midfield position will cost a considerable sum of around £26 million, according to reports in France.

The French news outlet, RTBF Sport claimed that Arsenal are ready to offer Lille over 20 million euros to bring the 20 year-old Belgian to the Emirates. However, it is now being reported that the French club are preparing to rebuff the offer by placing a hefty £26 million (30 million euro) price tag on Hazard.

Wenger made the bold claim that Arsenal would spend money if he believes a player would add the desired qualities to his team, whether they cost £2 million or £20 million:

“If it is for two million pounds or 20 million pounds we will do it if he adds quality to our squad. We have all our scouts all over the world and we look everywhere.”

It is a statement which will encourage Arsenal fans troubled by the sale and imminent departure of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, but will Wenger go that extra mile for Eden Hazard, a player whom he has tracked for several years?

He is a hugely promising talent, and has said in the past he would like to join Arsenal if he is to leave Lille. Wenger also publicly declared his interest in the player, saying back in January:

“We are following him (Hazard). Personally I think he has real talent and the level needed to play at Arsenal.”

But Wenger has already been priced out of a move for Valencia’s Juan Mata, and Arsenal may be fearing that situation could happen all over again with Hazard, whom Lille are extremely keen to keep. They have repeated again and again that their hot prospect, who scored 12 and assisted 10 goals last season is “not for sale at any price,” while the club President Michel Seydoux stated at the start of August that his star player is comfortable in France:

“I am not sure he wants to leave anyway. He knows his status here and at a large club there is much more uncertainty.”

Indeed, there is a lot of uncertainty at Arsenal at the moment as to who is coming and who is going, with Samir Nasri’s future still as clear as mud, however, everything is not exactly steady at Lille in terms of transfers.

Having already sold their Ivorian striker, Gervinho to Arsenal this summer, Lille are also facing losing their other attacker in Mousso Sow, who announced his desire to join Gervinho at Arsenal. If Hazard were to agree a move away from France, the summer will have seen the whole of Lille’s front line miserably dismantled, although that circumstance seems highly unlikely.