Real Madrid News
Ancelotti talks Benzema, Militao, Kroos, Vinicius, Valverde ahead of Mallorca vs Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s hectic schedule keeps getting tougher as they take on Mallorca tomorrow night in the league before travelling to Morocco for the Club World Cup semi-finals.
They have already endured a ton of injuries this season, with Eder Militao and Karim Benzema being the latest to be sidelined.
They have been, however, boosted by the return of David Alaba, who missed the last few games because of injury.
Ahead of the game, Carlo Ancelotti addressed these topics, among others, as part of his press conference; the quotes from which can be found in this thread by Madrid Universal.
On the game: “Mallorca has one of the best defences. They’re a very good team, they’re solid and defend well.”
On Alaba: “David Alaba will be available tomorrow.”
On Militao and Benzema: “Militao and Benzema are undergoing tests now, it doesn’t seem serious. I think they will travel to the Club World Cup, I don’t know if they will be available for the first or second game.”
“Militao and Benzema won’t play tomorrow.”
“Benzema’s future? As I said, all the Real Madrid legends have to finish their careers here.”
On Toni Kroos’ extension: “I don’t know anything about the renewal of Toni Kroos. He will discuss it with the club.”
“Modrić and Kroos will play tomorrow? It can be or not. I’ll use the best team tomorrow.”
On Valverde: “Valverde feels better now. He needed time, little by little.”
On playing before Barcelona tomorrow: “Playing before Barcelona tomorrow? We are definitely not happy because we have had less than 72 hours of rest. This is not correct.”
On Vinicius Jr: “Raillo said Vinicius is not an example? He’s a great player. My 4 grandsons love him, they all have Vinicius’ shirt. All the youngsters admire him.”
On January deals: “If any player was offered to join Real Madrid during the transfer market? It’s not true. No player was offered to us in January.”
Source: Real Madrid Twitter
There is no way back for Eden Hazard at Real Madrid. The Belgian international has not given the management any reason to have faith in his abilities over his past four seasons at the club and is unsurprisingly the most important departure for the Merengues in the summer.
Hazard has one more year on his contract in Madrid. However, it is clear that Carlo Ancelotti does not trust him and that any potential replacement manager in the summer will echo his stance.
According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Fenerbahce are willing to go all out to sign Hazard this summer. The Turkish side have made the former Chelsea their prime target, yet face a steep task ahead of them.
The 32-year-old is hellbent on seeing out his contract with Los Blancos despite seeing his career sink right before his eyes. It thus becomes complicated for the party to lure away the forward, especially in a competition outside Europe’s top five leagues.
Fenerbahce attempted to sign the winger in the recently concluded winter transfer market. They reached an agreement with Real Madrid but failed to get over the line as they could not convince the player of the move.
The biggest obstacle for the Turkish side will be convincing Hazard to make the move by letting go of his lucrative contract in Madrid. The chances are slim, but not impossible.
Hazard has made just three league appearances and one start for Ancelotti’s side this season in La Liga, a steep fall from last season’s 18 and seven respectively.
His last appearance for the team came back in January when Real Madrid faced Cacereno in the Copa del Rey. In La Liga however, he last played in September 2022 in a 4-1 win over Mallorca.
