Real Madrid are reportedly willing to splurge as much as £100 million for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard as Zinedine Zidane aims to complete the smooth squad transition in the coming few years. Los Blancos had a flawless season both domestic and European wise and the next sensible step for the board is to keep their dominance in the coming years.
And Chelsea’s ace is definitely one of the best attacking-midfielders at the moment. The La Liga giants are reportedly willing to offer the 26-year-old the advanced playmaker’s role in the side, which would be quite similar to the position he plays with Blues under Antonio Conte.
Zidane has usually preferred a three-man midfield this season, which more than anything has kept the back line intact with a midfielder cushioning the defence. His main playmaker has been Luka Modric alongside Isco, Kovacic or Tony Kroos. Hazard’s inclusion would mean the Belgian replacing either Kovacic or Kroos. Casemiro has been very strong defensively and he looks irreplaceable at the moment.
Another position, which might interest Zidane is the right wing where Gareth Bale has been mostly absent owing to repeated injuries. However, Hazard’s arrival would mean some departures from the other hand in the Isco and James Rodriguez. The Belgian could be the next huge move for Real since bringing in Bale back in 2013.
Hazard has been Chelsea’s key man last season in winning the title with 16 goals and five assists. After a nightmarish season, which saw Chelsea finishing tenth in the Premier League in the 2015-16 campaign, a comeback was tremendously important for the Belgian captain. Real have previously tried to land him at Santiago Bernabeu but Chelsea’s stubbornness followed by the transfer ban didn’t let that happen.
Real now have Ronaldo and Modric approaching the dusk of their career with the next World Cup being the only major target for them. Following which they would need players like Marco Asensio, Mateo Kovacic and others to step up, and Hazard could be their leading man then.
Since moving to England from Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille back in 2012, Hazard has scored 72 goals and provided 62 assists in around 250 games. He has undoubtedly been their key player since the last five years and there is no doubt Chelsea would go lengths to keep him at Stamford Bridge.
While it is no secret that Real don’t need Hazard’s attributes at the moment given they have plenty of options to take his role, but it would be very un-Real Madrid like if they don’t spend a fortune on players, without making too much sense.
