Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has revealed that new manager Jose Mourinho tried to sign him from Lille before he made the switch to Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian moved to the Blues last summer for a fee of around £35m, but had been a transfer target of Mourinho when the Portuguese tactician was in charge at Real Madrid.
However, Hazard has explained that the offer from the Spanish giants came at the wrong time in his career and that he he felt he needed to develop further before moving to one of Europe's top clubs.
"He told me he'd asked Lille, but I wanted to stay there until I was 21 and develop my game," Hazard told reporters.
"I must have been 19 or 20 at the time. Real Madrid is a wonderful team, but I had so much still to prove in the French league. I stayed because I didn't want to leave too early."
Hazard was nominated for PFA Player of the Year in his debut season at Chelsea during which he scored 13 goals in 61 appearances.
Joe Fish
