Roman Abramovich allegedly made a €7m secret payment to Eden Hazard’s agent around the time of his move to Chelsea, with the agent convincing the player not to join Arsenal.
Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich apparently made a secret €7m payment to the agent of Eden Hazard around the time of the player’s transfer, according to leaked documents reported by The Guardian.
The documents reportedly suggest that Leiston Holdings, owned by Abramovich, agreed to pay €7m to Gulf Value FZE in March 2013 for “advisory services […] related to […] sport research and consultancy”.
The contract was signed on the company’s behalf by John Bico, who was Hazard’s agent at the time.
This was just months after Hazard’s move to Chelsea, with Bico reportedly demanding a £6m commission during transfer negotiations.
This is all relevant to Arsenal because the Gunners were also in the race to sign Hazard at the time.
Bico has previously confirmed as much, admitting that he vetoed the move.
The agent told the media that the Arsenal transfer was Hazard’s preference, and his family’s preference, but he refused to let it happen, purportedly for sporting reasons.
“It was his number-one choice,” Bico admitted. “His father’s number-one choice too. But for me, it was a categorical refusal even when I really like this club, its history.
“At the time, there were too many young people and too many French people. It would have been a little like Lille. Eden accepted this veto. [With difficulty], but he did.
“Arsenal would have been a decision of the heart but not that of a man, even if it costs me to say that.”
These comments are now cast in a new light by the revelation of this alleged secret payment to Bico.
If Chelsea indeed agreed to pay the agent €7m behind the scenes, that would certainly give him strong motivation to push Hazard to turn down his preferred choice of Arsenal.
The Guardian claim experts say the transaction, among others, could now lead to Premier League sanctions and point deductions for Chelsea.
To be clear, there’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on Hazard’s part. It’s very possible he didn’t even know about the payment until now.