Manchester United reportedly missed the signing of Eden Hazard in 2012 After club officials refused to make a secret payment of millions of pounds to his agent.
Hazard signed for Premier League rivals Chelsea from the French club Lille for a reported fee of £ 32 million.
The winger then won two Premier League titles and lifted the Europa League twice, the FA Cup and League Cup during a shimmering seven-year spell with the blues.
According to The Times, Hazard was about to have a transfer to Man United in the summer of 2012, where the club had agreed a fee with Lille and personal conditions with the Belgian winger.
The then agent of Hazard, John Bico, reportedly suggested that the club paid him £ 1 million while demanding millions more directly from the ownership of Man United.
Allegedly, club officials refused to agree and emphasized that such a scheme would have violated both the Premier League and the UEFA rules.
The Times reported that the Premier League is still investigating a payment of € 7 million (£ 6 million) by an offshore company owned by Roman Abramovich, at that time of Chelsea, to Bico in 2013.
There is no proposed Hazard, the PFA player of the year in the 2014-15 season, was aware of his agent's question. The Belgian and his brother Thorgan split from Bico in 2014.
Bico was arrested last year and is confronted with non -bound accusations of financial crime in Belgium.
Abramovich, 58, owned the blues between 2003 and 2022, until he was punished by the British government and disqualified as director of the club by the top flight after the Russia invasion of Ukraine.
When the Consortium Chelsea guided by Todd Boehly bought in May 2022, they themselves reported historical cases of incomplete financial information during the term of Abramovich.
In July 2023, UEFA de Blues imposed € 10 million (£ 8.6 million) for 'submitting incomplete financial information' between 2012 and 2019.
The Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism later reported that leaked documents demonstrated how Abramovich is said to have used offshore companies to do transactions to agents and employees who borrow Chelsea.
Of these alleged payments it was said that they were worth tens of millions of pounds and therefore could have violated the financial rules if they were not officially explained.
Last year, former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia was questioned about what she knew about the secret payments that would have been made under the property of Abramovich.
According to The Guardian, the documents seemed to show that Granovskaia was informed of the payment to the agent of Hazard, as well as reimbursements with regard to the transfers of Willian and Samuel Eto'o to Chelsea.
Granovskaia has reportedly refused to comment.
In 2023, after the Claims Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a Chelsea spokesperson said: 'These allegations date from the current ownership of the club. They are based on documents that the club has not been shown and do not relate to a person currently in the club.
(During the purchase of the club, the current owners may be aware of incomplete financial reporting on historical transactions during the earlier ownership of the club.
'Immediately after completion of the purchase, the club proactively reported these matters to all applicable football regulators.
In accordance with the core principles of the club of full compliance and transparency of the club, the club has proactively helped the applicable supervisors with their research and will continue to do so. '
Chelsea is reportedly in discussions about a financial regulation with the Premier League.