Chelsea's hopes of keeping Eden Hazard have been given a significant lift by Zinedine Zidane's decision to step down as Real Madrid manager.

Hazard's future at Stamford Bridge has been in doubt for over a year as talks over extending his contract have not progressed.

Real Madrid have been consistently linked with the Belgium international, whose current deal now has just two years left to run.

Standard Sport understands that Zidane was pushing the Real Madrid hierarchy to make a bid for the 27-year-old this summer.

Given that Hazard has spoken regularly in his career about how Zidane was his idol growing up and he dreamed of playing under him one day, the Champions League winners posed a real threat.

But Zidane surprisingly quit as coach last week, just five days after leading the side to victory over Liverpool in the final.

A key factor behind his resignation was that he was not getting his way over player departures and incomings.

Real Madrid have yet to appoint Zidane's replacement but it is believed they have already decided not to make buying Hazard a priority.

There has been a lot of speculation over Cristiano Ronaldo's and Gareth Bale's future at the Bernabeu, but both are expected to stay.

With the powers that be also wanting Isco and Marco Asensio to feature prominently, there is little room for Hazard in the side.

That makes his purchase even less important, especially as Chelsea will demand in excess of £100m for his signature.

The Liga side's focus is strengthening other areas of the pitch, particularly at centre forward.

They are already favourites to buy Robert Lewandowski from Real Madrid, whose agent Pini Zahavi has made it clear to Bayern Munich that the Poland international wants to leave.

Neymar also remains an ambitious target, despite Paris Saint-Germain consistently saying the Brazilian is not for sale.

Chelsea will hold more negotiations with Hazard after the World Cup and still plan to offer him a deal that will increase his salary from £200,000-a-week to £300,000-a-week.

The former Lille star, who moved to Stamford Bridge for £32m in 2012, has said he wants to see the club's ambition in the transfer market before committing his long-term future.

But speaking to Standard Sport last week, he intimated very strongly that his focus was on helping Chelsea take the Premier League trophy back from Manchester City next term.

He said: "I think all of the players and the club want one thing and that’s to win the title. Of course we will see if we can bring in some new players, it’s part of the job. But we will be focused on winning the title, that’s it.

"Okay we don’t play in the Champions League, but last year we didn’t play in it and won the League. We need this mentality, players to produce and make the difference. That’s why we love Chelsea."

As yet, Chelsea have not signed anyone and there is still no clarification who will be in the dug-out next term.

Antonio Conte has 12 months left on his deal but is expected to be dismissed. Chelsea haven't agreed compensation with Napoli for Maurizio Sarri and are now considering Laurent Blanc and Slavisa Jokanovic (below).

Luis Enrique, who was initially their first choice at the start of the year, is also back in the frame, although he will still have to lower his wage demands for that to come to fruition.

There is a lot of support for Blanc, despite being out of work for two years. Jokanovic is currently away on holiday but is aware of Chelsea's interest.

Fulham will hold talks with Jokanovic over extending his contract, which has 12 months left to run, when he returns.