According to Spanish news outlet, Don Balon, Real Madrid are eyeing a £60m summer move for Chelsea’s attacking midfielder, Willian. It has also been reported that Florentino Perez was convinced of transfer approach by Cristiano Ronaldo himself after the Brazilian’s impressive performance against Barcelona on Wednesday evening.
Even though Chelsea were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by the Catalan giants, Willian was one of the standout performers over the two legs. The 29-year-old weaved his way through the Barcelona defence and constantly threatened whenever with the ball.
His brilliant low struck shot gave the Blues the lead in the first leg at Stamford Bridge and raised hopes of progression to the last 8 of the competition. Willian has been otherwise equally impressive on the domestic stage with 6 goals and 7 assists in 29 league games this season.
The Blues are undergoing a tough period in the Premier League with the side falling 4 points behind Liverpool after the consecutive losses to both the Manchester clubs in the recent past. Antonio Conte has quite visibly fallen out with the Chelsea board and his job currently hangs on the balance of a top-four finish. It is uncertain whether the former Juventus boss will continue managing the West London side beyond this season but for the time being he will have to do.
Losing Willian will be a major loss to the Blues especially when they are on the brink of losing Eden Hazard as well. The latter’s transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu has been stalled in recent times but was the one filling the headlines earlier in the season.
It would be understandable for Madrid to pursue the services of the Belgian international but do they really need Willian? At 27, Hazard has entered the prime of his footballing career and is the marquee player that the Galacticos currently need.
He matches the talents of some of the world’s best and is capable of taking over the limelight from the ageing Cristiano Ronaldo. The Chelsea number ten has even stalled a contract extension with his current club in hopes of earning the call-up from the Spanish giants.
It would be in Madrid’s best interest to disburse all their energy on Hazard rather than shelling out huge chunks of cash for a limited-potential understudy.
Ronaldo is facing the last stages of his playing career and Perez needs to find the next offensive leader. Hazard is leaps and bounds a better option while Willian a surplus to their current requirements.
