Real Madrid News
Real Madrid €120 million target wants to stay at club beyond 2023 – report
Josko Gvardiol was the talk of the town at the end of the FIFA World Cup and was unlucky to be denied the Best Young Player title. The youngster single-handedly carried Croatia’s backline through the gala event as one of the key pillars in the semifinalists’ setup.
It comes as no surprise that Europe’s elite were all over him at the end of the tournament, hoping to snap up his services immediately. The biggest name on the list of interested parties was Real Madrid.
According to reports from Florian Plettenbergh, Gvardiol wishes to stay at Leipzig beyond the 2023 summer. His contract, however, will have a release clause of €110 million in 2024.
Los Blancos currently boast of some of Europe’s biggest names in defence including Eder Miltao, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger. However, only the Brazilian International can claim to be a regular starter in the long term.
Thus, the administration see the signing of a young centre-back as a priority in the coming transfer windows. Gvardiol is undoubtedly one of the top names linked with the European Champions.
Real Madrid’s hopes of signing the Croatian International suffered a massive blow yesterday when Gvardiol named Liverpool as his dream club. With the Reds in the race for his signing too, Jurgen Klopp’s side can claim to have the upper hand.
“My dream club? That would definitely be Liverpool. Since I was little, I watched a lot of their matches with my dad.”
In seven games in the World Cup, the 20-year-old oversaw two clean sheets and recorded over ten defensive actions per game. Further, he also found the back of the net in Croatia’s game against Morocco.
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.
