Real Madrid are preparing to make an opening £112million offer for Chelsea star Eden Hazard.

The La Liga club are already confident that they will complete a £35.5m deal for Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and are now stepping up their efforts to buy his team-mate.

The Belgium forward indicated after helping to beat England in last Saturday’s World Cup third-place play-off that his time at Stamford Bridge could be over.

“After six wonderful years at Chelsea, it might be time to discover something different,” he said. “You know my preferred destination.”

Throughout his career, Hazard, who has two years left on his contract, has made no secret of the fact that he dreams of one day playing for Real.

The departure of Hazard’s idol, Zinedine Zidane, as coach of Real in May appeared to have ended their chances of buying him.

The Frenchman was pushing for the deal, but Bernabeu chiefs had made Neymar or Kylian Mbappe their priority. However, Paris Saint-Germain have made it clear that neither is for sale, leaving Hazard as their next option.

Chelsea’s battle to keep their prized asset is now well under way, although Real will have to raise their bid significantly to have a chance of buying him this summer.

Chelsea value the 27-year-old at a minimum £200m and insist that they hope to convince him to sign a new contract.

Sources at Chelsea say they are ‘very relaxed’ about the situation and point to another key part of Hazard’s interview at the weekend which conceded that “Chelsea will make the final decision”.

Real are used to their transfer targets forcing a move away from a club that has little desire to sell, but it would be a surprise if Hazard uses such tactics.

While Chelsea are resigned to letting Courtois go because he has less than a year left on his contract, they are determined not to lose both players.

An added problem is that while Real can keep testing Chelsea’s resolve until the transfer window in La Liga shuts on August 31, the Blues have less than three weeks to find a suitable replacement if they chose to cash in.

Chelsea’s intention is to improve the squad, not see it deteriorate. They have already signed Jorginho from Napoli for £57.4m and are convinced they will soon add CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin to their ranks.

The move for Daniele Rugani is at an advanced stage but has been delayed because they are talking to Juventus about striker Gonzalo Higuain as well.

If the Argentine joins the Blues, Alvaro Morata is set to move to AC Milan.