Real Madrid News
Real Madrid winger set to miss Athletic Club encounter due to ankle injury
The injury woes continue to pile up for Real Madrid as Eden Hazard has become the latest casualty within the Spanish capital club.
According to Guillermo Rai of The Athletic, the Belgian winger missed the training session earlier today after twisting his ankle in a previous session. As a result, he is set to miss the upcoming game against Athletic Club on Sunday night.
Hazard joins an ever-growing injury list at the Santiago Bernabeu, which includes David Alaba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Carvajal, and Lucas Vazquez.
The 31-year-old former Chelsea ace is not a prominent part of Carlo Ancelotti’s plans at the club and has not featured much in recent weeks for the reigning champions of Spain and Europe.
Indeed, Hazard has played just seven times across all competitions this season, managing a return of one goal and an assist in those appearances.
In fact, the 31-year-old has not appeared in a single La Liga game since September last year while he was not used in the two Spanish Super Cup matches as well as the Copa del Rey encounter against Villarreal earlier this week.
So, it would be fair to say that Hazard’s absence will not be felt a great deal by Real Madrid come Sunday’s game.
However, Carvajal not returning to training and Vazquez remaining sidelined means that Los Blancos will be without a natural right-back. It must be noted that Castilla youngster Vinicius Tobias also did not train with the first team today.
It could mean that Ancelotti will likely turn to Nacho or Eder Militao once again to occupy the right-back position against Athletic Club tomorrow.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid have offered renewals to all players with expiring contracts except Mariano
According to a report from Diario AS, Real Madrid had the intention to keep hold of all of the players whose contracts are expiring at the end of the season.
In line with this intention, Real Madrid had offered renewals to all the expiring players with the exception of Mariano Diaz. The fringe forward is set to leave Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season, with several La Liga clubs already interested in his services.
But as far as other players are concerned, they were all offered renewals, including Nacho Fernandez, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, among others.
Veteran trio Benzema, Modric and Toni Kroos have an oral agreement with the club and will continue at the Bernabeu until 2024. But it appears Nacho, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio are the only ones who are considering leaving the club in the coming summer.
Nacho has been one of the longest-serving players in the Real Madrid team. Although his close-aids have suggested him to stay at the club, he is strongly considering a move elsewhere. He wants to experience a new adventure in a foreign country.
Ceballos is another player unlikely to remain at the Bernabeu. The potential arrival of Jude Bellingham, coupled with the presence of various midfield stalwarts in the team should greatly affect his game-time.
Asensio, meanwhile, looks likely to leave as well. The Spaniard wanted a more prominent role in the first team but that is not a possibility at the moment. He will, therefore, see out his contract at Real Madrid until the end of the season before becoming a free agent.
The potential exit of Nacho, Asensio and Ceballos could serve as a major blow for Real Madrid and could force the club to search the market for more reinforcements in the coming summer.
