Eden Hazard almost joined surprise European club he was never linked to before Chelsea

‘The best player we never signed’ is an honour that Eden Hazard can claim a lot of European giants feel about him.

Yet many fans won’t be aware that the Belgian’s injury that ruled him out of the 2013 Europa League final left both sets of supporters with a case of what might have been.

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The 35-year-old was nursing a hamstring issue in the stands at the Johan Cruyff Arena when Chelsea sealed a 2-1 win over Benfica.

It was his first major trophy during his seven years at the Blues, but if things had been different he could have been playing against them.

Hazard has publicly admitted that he turned down Tottenham, Manchester United and Man City to move to Stamford Bridge in 2012.

However, the retired Belgium international also had a little-known opportunity to join Benfica after bursting onto the scene with Lille.

With his first senior goal, scored in a 3-2 win over Auxerre in 2008, Hazard became the then-youngest scorer in the Ligue 1 side’s history.

Now-Flamengo sporting director José Boto had only recently become Benfica’s chief scout when he made an ambitious move for the teen.

Benfica failed in Eden Hazard transfer

“When we were at Benfica, we kept a very close eye on Eden Hazard,” he revealed in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com.

“We tried, but we didn’t manage it.

“Then he really took off when he was 17-years-old. We tried to sign him, but lots of clubs came in wanting him, and it was difficult.”

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‘The best player we never signed’

Injury cost Hazard the chance to underline his talent against Benfica, as Branislav Ivanovic’s injury-time header secured the Europa League.

Chelsea lifted the trophy again in 2019, with their No.10 scoring two goals and making another in a dominant 4-1 triumph over Arsenal.

That proved to be his final action as a Chelsea player before he joined Real Madrid, with Hazard retiring from football in 2023.

The two-time Premier League winner made more than 350 appearances for the Blues and was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2025, a decade on from his PFA Player of the Year award win.

Boto added: “He might well be the best player we never signed.”

That 2013 Europa League final was also significant for two of Hazard’s other teammates, Nemanja Matic and David Luiz, who were on opposite sides following the cash-plus-player deal that Boto was part of helping get over the line.

“The work of a scout, or a director, is always a team effort,” He continued to talkSPORT.

“It goes without saying that we’re the ones who take the blame, for better or for worse. Whoever’s in charge takes the blame.

“But fortunately, I’ve had many successful signings in my career – not just Victor Lindelof, but, for example, Matic, whom we brought in from Chelsea as part of the David Luiz deal and who was later sold back to Chelsea. For 25 million euros, having been signed for €5m.

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“Then there’s [Lazar] Marković, for example, whom you may not remember, but who had a spectacular year at Benfica and was sold after that season. He was bought for 6 million and sold to Liverpool for 25 million.

“Let’s also remember [Axel] Witsel, a player we brought in from Standard Liège and who, after a year of good performances at Benfica, was sold to Zenit for 40 million euros – at the time, for his release clause.

“And many other players. My time at Shakhtar too, with many good players, such as [Manor] Solomon, who is at Fiorentina, and other players, such as [Mykhailo] Mudryk, who was also breaking through at that time, and [Georgiy] Sudakov, who is at Benfica.

“Although there, the fact that we had sparked the war meant that, perhaps, the players did not have that value, given everything we know about the situation. But, fortunately, I’ve had many success stories in my career and I’m very proud of that.”