Aston Villa eye surprise move for Real Madrid star - Reports

Aston Villa are reportedly planning a stunning move for Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard to end his nightmare stint in Spain.

The Belgian international moved to the Bernabeu in 2019 for a club-record fee (€146.1 million) after seven incredible seasons at Chelsea. However, Hazard's time in the Spanish capital has been a disaster as he has scored just seven times in 72 appearances.

The Belgian's spell at Real Madrid has been ravaged by injury problems and he has made just six appearances so far this term. The winger has plenty of competition ahead of him from the likes of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, while he has rarely been given a chance in a central role.

BREAKING: Aston Villa are interested in signing Eden Hazard.

Via Defensa Central https://t.co/icH7xltzeI

According to Defensa Central (per WalFoot), new Villa boss Unai Emery is interested in bringing Hazard to Villa Park, as he is keen to revive his career. The former PSG and Arsenal boss has a reputation for getting the best out of experienced stars as he took his Villarreal team to the Champions League semi-finals.

The Villans also have Philippe Coutinho in their ranks, who, like Hazard, is looking to revive his once-great career in the Premier League.

📊| Eden Hazard has not featured in La Liga since September against Mallorca, 7 games ago. 🇧🇪 https://t.co/XlYiTSKzN7

Carlo Ancelotti blames fatigue for recent Real Madrid draw

Real Madrid's lead at the top of La Liga was reduced to one point over the weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona on 30 October. The result followed up their first defeat of the season when they lost to RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

Los Blancos have played plenty of games during their brutal schedule leading up to the FIFA World Cup. Ancelotti believes the amount of games is taking its toll. The Italian told reporters after the Girona draw (as per Marca):

"We are not at the level we were last week. We have had some problems, with the return of injured players [such as] Rodrygo [Goes], [Luka] Modric, [Aurelien] Tchouameni. We are playing a lot of matches and we are feeling the fatigue."

"We have the chance on Wednesday [against Celtic] to seal top [spot in the Champions League group] and the objective is to be leaders at the break. At the moment, we have everything in our hands."

The Real Madrid manager added:

"The matches are complicated against all teams, it's normal. The level is not excellent because there are many matches, too many, and there is no time to recover 100 percent physically and mentally. I don't see anyone playing spectacularly, all teams suffer."

Real Madrid have kept just 2 clean sheets in 12 La Liga games. This is their fewest clean sheets at this stage since 2013/14. @OptaJose https://t.co/IzYAmUjG0z