West Ham United have made a £21 million bid for Real Madrid flop Eden Hazard and Los Blancos have thrown the bid out, terming it offensive.
Hazard joined Real Madrid from Chelsea after winning the 2018/19 Europa League title for £140 million in total as their most expensive signing ever.
However, injuries, illness and a serious drop in form has hampered Hazard’s time at Santiago Bernabeu that the club now have no option but to count and cut their losses on the Belgian.
Spanish outlet El Nacional reports that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who craved Hazard for so long, is now “fed up” with the 30-year-old and will welcome bids for the player.
Still, he was irked at the “cheeky” bid from West Ham, considering it too low and offensive for a player that was worth over £100 million two seasons ago.
The Belgium national team captain has only started 25 games of the 40 LaLiga games he has played for the club in his two-and-a-half seasons as a Real Madrid player. In total, he has played 55 times for Madrid in that time, scoring only five goals and providing only nine assists.
He has also failed to win over Carlo Ancelotti, who took over Los Blancos this season for the second time in his coaching career.
Despite being relatively injury-free this campaign, he has only started five times under the Italian — four in LaLiga and one in the UEFA Champions League — and is very far down the pecking order at the club, sometimes being benched for youngsters from Castilla.
Hazard will not leave Madrid for less than £48 million
El Nacional have reported that Perez is willing to listen to offers of £48 million and above for the Belgian, who he’s looking to offload as soon as possible to make space for some more marquee signings.
Real Madrid are also open to a loan move for Hazard in January to keep him fit and fresh as they prepare to offload him in the summer.
Hazard has not started a game for Real Madrid since September 28 and has not made an appearance for Los Merengues since November 6.
Ancelotti has preferred Vinícius Junior — who has been in brilliant form and is LaLiga’s second highest goalscorer this season — in attack on the left wing.
Marco Asensio has also recovered his lost form and is also staking a claim alongside Rodrygo Goes and the versatile Lucas Vazquez, pushing Hazard even further down the pecking order.
Various Premier League clubs including his former club Chelsea and Saudi-owned Newcastle United have reportedly been alerted to this possibility of taking Hazard on loan.
However, more reports from another Spanish outlet, COPE, claim that Hazard is not only happy at Real Madrid, but is not willing to leave any time soon as he and his wife prepare for the arrival of their fifth child.
Real Madrid receive Erling Haaland boost
One of the marquee signings Florentino Perez is looking to finance with Hazard’s departure from the Santiago Bernabeu is Erling Haaland.
The club has now received a boost in their pursuit of the young striker as Mino Raiola, Haaland’s agent, has come out to state that the club is a possible destination for his client who he claims will most likely be leaving Dortmund next summer.
“Erling can and will take the next step,” said Raiola. “Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, City — these are the big clubs he can go to.
“We will tell Dortmund what our idea is and they will tell us their ideas.
“But no decision will be made in the winter. We always have very open communication with Dortmund.”