MANCHESTER UNITED could have signed Eden Hazard more 13 years ago, but might have now been facing an FA rap if they did.
Talks over a deal to bring the Belgian to Old Trafford collapsed when Hazard’s agent, John Bico, demanded a multi-million pound backhand payment, as first reported by The Times in April.
GettyEden Hazard could have signed for Man Utd in 2012[/caption]
GettyBut the club refused over a demand for a backhand agent payment and signed Shinji Kagawa instead[/caption]
GettyBut Chelsea have now been charged with 74 counts of alleged agent rule breaches during the Roman Abramovich era[/caption]
The arrangement, demanding £1million in official payments and several million more directly from the owners, would have bypassed the club’s Financial Fair Play calculations.
However, Bico was told United could never agree to such a deal as it would breach both Premier League and Uefa rules.
Hazard ultimately went on to sign for Chelsea from Lille in a £32million transfer.
To fans, it was money well spent for the then-Blues owner, Roman Abramovich, with Hazard helping the team go on to win six titles at the West London club, including two Premier League titles, before departing for Real Madrid for an initial £88.5m in 2019.
Meanwhile, United instead signed Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £12m, but the move never worked out.
Kagawa had precious few highlights in a Red Devils – one of which was a hat-trick against Norwich in 2013 to make him the first Asian player to net a Premier League hat-trick – before leaving the club in 2014.
However, Chelsea are now in hot water after the FA announced they had charged the club with 74 counts of alleged breaches of agent payment rules between the 2010-11 and the 2015-16 playing seasons.
The FA statement said: “The Football Association has today charged Chelsea FC with breaches of regulations J1 and C2 of the FA Football Agent regulations, regulations A2 and A3 of the FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries and regulations A1 and B3 of the FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations.
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“In total, 74 charges have been brought against Chelsea FC…
“Chelsea FC has until 19 September 2025 to respond.”
Initially, the FA’s investigation – which started in 2023 – centred on payments connected to the signings of Samuel Eto’o and Willian in 2013, as well as the capture of Hazard the year before.
It is understood that the allegations centre on “off-books” payments, approved directly by the former owner, to help facilitate signings.
One of these was an alleged £6m payment from Abramovich to Bico via an offshore company.
Legendary former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about the payment at the time, saying: What we’re finding anyway, the climate for buying these top players – not just the transfer fees, the salaries, agents’ fees – is just getting ridiculous now.
“In the Hazard deal, Chelsea paid the agent £6m. The [Samir] Nasri situation was the same. It’s all about what you think is value for a player.
“I am not envious of those deals at all. We placed a value on Hazard which was well below what they were talking about.”
Bridge bombshell
CHELSEA face a record punishment for secret payments to agents
Here’s what we know so far
Chelsea face 74 charges from the FA concerning alleged breaches of regulations related to agents, intermediaries, and third-party player ownership.
The alleged breaches occurred between 2009 and 2022 when the club was owned by Roman Abramovich.
They were based on payments made in relation to the transfer of three signings – Samuel Eto’o, Willian and Eden Hazard.
The new owners, led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, self-reported the matters to the FA.
While the club’s cooperation may be a mitigating factor, Chelsea face a significant, possibly “record-breaking,” fine if found guilty..
In addition to the FA charges, the Premier League is conducting its own separate investigation into the club’s financial affairs
Chelsea has until September 19 to formally respond to the FA’s charges
There is no suggestion that Hazard was aware of the exchange or involved in any wrongdoing.
The alleged breaches are understood to have been discovered by new Blues owners Todd Boehly, Behdad Egbali and their Clearlake consortium at the time of the takeover process in May 2022.
They were reported to the FA, Uefa and Prem by the new owners at that time.
Uefa and Chelsea agreed a “settlement” of £8.6m in 2023, but the Prem inquiry has been ongoing.
It had been anticipated that the Prem would also issue a fine to the Blues, although some rivals have been privately calling for a stiffer punishment.
But now the FA charges appear likely to put the Prem sanction on the backburner.
The scale of the charges and time-scale being investigated suggest any sanction will be potentially record-breaking, although the current Blues ownership are understood to be offering full co-operation.
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