“I wasn’t interested”: when a player bluntly turns down PSG

In partnership with

Parisfans.fr

·1 March 2026

“I wasn’t interested”: when a player bluntly turns down PSG

Eden Hazard (35 years old), former Belgian winger who played for Lille, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, provided a clear explanation on a much-speculated topic. On RMC Sport, he stated that he had "every year" contacts with Paris Saint-Germain, but never seriously considered Paris. It was more a matter of trajectory than temptation.

Hazard "Every year I had contacts with PSG"

"Every year I had contacts with PSG. In my mind, it was very clear. When I left Lille, I told myself: 'I won't want to return to France for any club other than Lille. If I have to come back one day, it would be to play at Lille to end my career, for example.' For the people of Lille, for the North, I didn't want to go play at PSG. It was a great club. Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi) was there, there was a lot of money, there was always a team to play in the Champions League. Since things were going great at Chelsea, my dream afterward was to go to Real, not to PSG and then to Real."

The most interesting part of Eden Hazard's statement is its simplicity: he doesn't "criticize" PSG, he just says no. Yes, the club ticked all the boxes of a grand project, resources, Champions League, proximity to Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, but in his mind, France was meant to remain a territory linked to Lille, not a rival. And above all, his compass was elsewhere: Chelsea first, then the acknowledged dream of Real Madrid. It's neither a moral lesson nor a trial: just a useful reminder. In the transfer market, there are rational choices, emotional choices... and choices of pure ambition. Hazard claims all three.

OneFootball Videos

This honesty is also refreshing for the debate: not everything is about a "project," "salary," or "pressure." Sometimes, a player doesn't come simply because he doesn't want to, and paradoxically, that's the rarest explanation in modern football.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.