Real Madrid to 'get rid' of player who is 'as toxic as Eden Hazard' - Reports
Real Madrid want to get rid of Mariano Diaz, who, as per El Nacional, is a player 'as toxic as Eden Hazard'.
The Belgium international joined Los Blancos in 2019 from Chelsea for a mammoth fee of €160 million. Since then, he has failed to match the expectations of the club and the fans, starting just 29 La Liga games in his career.
The club want to offload Hazard this summer but the player has refused to leave. He has also publicly claimed that he isn't on talking terms with manager Carlo Ancelotti - a claim attested to by the Italian tactician himself.
The former LOSC Lille Metropole winger takes home a yearly salary of €24 million (h/t Bola Vip) and has become a financial burden on the club. However, there is another player that Real Madrid have reportedly struggled to banish from their books in recent years.
Los Merengues are desperate to sever ties with Mariano Diaz, with the striker's contract expiring this summer. They are not interested in offering him a new deal and the player will apparently leave through the back door, i.e. without a farewell from the club.
The Dominican Republic international left the Spanish club after six years when he joined Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of €8 million in the summer of 2017. A return of 18 goals and five assists in 34 Ligue 1 games tempted Madrid to activate the €30 million buy-back clause in his contract a year after his departure.
It has proven to be a poor investment on the club's part, with Diaz starting just 11 league games since then. Manager Carlo Ancelotti hasn't handed the 29-year-old a single La Liga start this season.
Real Madrid star claims Eden Hazard was disappointed after Carlo Ancelotti snub
Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois has claimed that Eden Hazard expected to play more regularly for Real Madrid after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
That, however, hasn't happened. He has made just one appearance since the Qatar World Cup, which came in his team's 1-0 Copa del Rey third-round win against Cacereno on January 3.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper, who was Hazard's teammate at international level until the latter's retirement in December, told Belgian outlet RTBF, via Mundo Deportivo (h/t Football-Espana):
"He thought he was going to play after the World Cup, that he was going to have a chance, but he didn’t and then it’s true that he was sad."
The 32-year-old's contract expires at the end of next season and it is unlikely that Real Madrid will be able to get rid of him this summer.