COMMENT: Never assume Chelsea fans. Don't ever assume that Eden Hazard will be wearing your Chelsea Blue next season. Especially when...
...it's an election year at Real Madrid.
News of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire owner, being prepared to upgrade Hazard's current deal is welcome. And canny. The Belgian still has three years to run on his current agreement. And at £200,000-a-week, he's the best paid at the club.
But by handing Hazard a pay-hike, masked as a reward for his form revival this season, Abramovich will be shutting down the most powerful weapon Real president Florentino Perez has at his disposal - the Madrid media.
There's still months to go until the summer market. Even longer before Real's presidential election is held. But they're already throwing everything at Chelsea and Hazard. And when we say they, we're not just talking Real Madrid and Perez. Nor coach Zinedine Zidane. Every week now, sometimes twice a week, a new twist in Real's pursuit of Hazard is pushed through the Madrid press.
He's their priority. He's wanted by Perez. Zizou, the player's idol, is in constant contact. The Frenchman's organised school enrollment for Hazard's kids. He's even told the Blues No7 he'll sell James Rodriguez so he can move his family into the Colombian's luxury La Finca home. It goes on and on. And the pressure and speculation will only intensify as the stories become more and more prolific.
And that's all with Zidane's team chasing down a LaLiga and Champions League Double. Win one or both and Perez can expect to walk the election this year. But finish the season potless, with a declining Cristiano Ronaldo and on the back of a transfer ban of his board's doing... and Florentino will need to produce something special to placate the Merengues socios.
Abramovich, more than anyone at the club, will be across this. The Russian is bursting at the moment. Thrilled that his hunch over Antonio Conte has paid off so successfully. It was he, more than anyone else at Chelsea, who pursued and secured the Italian's commitment around this time last year. And it's he who will be driving a new, 'premature' pay-hike for Hazard today. Get the midfielder's signature on a contract. Announce it to the world. And Perez will be left flailing.
Even if there was to be no movement at Chelsea's end, there remains a firm confidence that Hazard won't uproot his family to Madrid this summer. After last season's tumult, Hazard, mentally, is in a good place. And his family are well settled in London, where the home is located just a few minutes drive from the club's training base.
Hazard shuns the celebrity spotlight. Something which Chelsea management, despite the marketing potential of their star man, never demand of him. Such understanding is appreciated by Hazard. And he knows all that would change moving to Real.
Shirt sales. Sponsors' appearances. It's all written into each player's contract at Real. It's part of being a Galactico. And for a reluctant celeb like Hazard, the Madrid lifestyle could ultimately be what puts him off. After three quiet transfer windows, much will be demanded of those whom Perez signs this summer - particularly any big name, big money attacker. The idea that Hazard and his family can maintain the same lifestyle in Madrid as they currently have in London is simple wishful thinking.
But such speculation is without Abramovich's intervention. And the idea of a sudden pay-rise for Hazard will catch Perez off guard. Such thinking isn't in the Real president's armoury. Just consider his stand over upgrading Ronaldo's deal - and the angst such an approach has created.
Abramovich probably doesn't need to act. And Chelsea, as champions, could probably handle whatever the Madrid press threw their way this summer.
But why take the chance? Abramovich's plan is genius. For his great rival in Madrid, getting Hazard to put pen to paper will be checkmate for the Russian.