Eden Hazard named Man United's top transfer target after Fergie scout trip

Posted Friday, April 13, 2012 by

Manchester United have made Eden Hazard their number one summer transfer target after coach Rene Meulensteen confirmed Sir Alex Ferguson made a personal trip alone to watch the Lille star in action.

Eden Hazard named Man United's top transfer target after Fergie scout trip
Talented: Lille's Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard

The Belgian international playmaker is also said to be a target for Manchester City, Arsenal and Spurs.
Ferguson hoped to steal a march on his rivals by travelling in secret, and by himself, to run the rule over Hazard, 21, in order to make it clear the youngster is a top target for the summer.
And Meulensteen admitted the trip, which was reported by Metro last month, was because the United supremo considers Hazard to be 'an interesting player'.
'The manager wanted to see [Eden] Hazard by himself. That's a sign he thinks it's an interesting player. We talked a lot about him,' Meulensteen said.

'For a club it's important that you keep refreshing your squad.'

Hazard's predicted move to one of England's top clubs never came to fruition during the January transfer window - but looks ever more likely during the upcoming close season.

And Meulensteen suggested Ferguson's personal trip across the Channel was the culmination of lots of hard work behind the scenes from United's coaching and scouting team.

'Hazard is a special talent, but it always takes a while,' he told Voetbal International.

'As example - we followed David de Gea for a long time before we got him.

'Ferguson wants to know the character of the player, and because of that he goes to look by himself for players.

'Hazard is "the man" at Lille. Ferguson wanted to see if that had an influence on him.'

Reports have previously suggested bids in the region of £20million had been rejected by Lille to try to keep Hazard.

However, the player himself has suggested he will soon be keen to leave - and referred to the Premier League as his preference.

'After thinking about my next move, I'm leaning towards England. It's a style of play that suits me and it's there that you can learn the most,' he said.

'I want to play for a big club, but also one where I will play every week.'