Eden Hazard all but confirmed that he wants to leave Chelsea after leading Belgium to their best-ever finish at a World Cup.

Speaking after scoring in the Red Devils’ 2-0 win over England in the third-place game, the Belgium captain said, “After 6 wonderful years at Chelsea it might be time to discover something different.

“Certainly after this World Cup.

“I can decide if I want to stay or go, but Chelsea will make the final decision – if they want to let me go.”

Hazard has long been linked with Real Madrid, and even though the manager who had first identified him as a target for Los Blancos, Zinedine Zidane, has left the club, talk of a move to the Spanish capital has never died down. Without mentioning them by name, the Belgian captain confirmed that the Champions League winners are the club he’s likeliest to join.

“You know my preferred destination,” Hazard said.

There were rumours that Hazard was chafing at the defensive burden placed on him by recently departed Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, and the Belgian praised Conte’s replacement, Maurizio Sarri – though that does not seem to have changed his mind regarding a transfer.

“We knew already for a while that Sarri was going to become the new manager,” Hazard said.

“If he’s a good manager? If he lets me win trophies, yes.

“Dries Mertens (who played under Sarri at Napoli) has told me he’s a good coach.

“We’ll have to work hard. The Italian way, but we were used to that with Antonio too.”