Torres speaks on Hazard move to Madrid

Eden Hazard’s former Chelsea teammate and recent retiree Fernando Torres spoke with AS recently about Hazard’s summer transfer to Real Madrid.

“Hazard is a spectacular footballer who needs the boost from a club like Real Madrid to reach the level he can reach, what he’s done at Chelsea in a fleeting manner, also because it’s not a club like Madrid.”

“It remains to be seen if he’s able to push himself to want to be better. His ability and the conditions are perfect.”

“Sometimes it seemed he struggled to want to be better when I saw him training, it was clear he could be at the level of the best.”

“Now he’s got the stage on which to do it. It’ll depend more on his mentality than his football.”

For Hazard, this is obviously a dream move as well as a move that furthers his career. He has the chance to cement himself as a truly world class player if he can take the next step in skill.

Fernando Torres obviously knows him well as a former teammate and knows that Hazard has the tools to become a big-time player for Real Madrid this season and beyond.

Kroos speaks on Ronaldo exit and impact

Toni Kroos spoke with German outlet Sportbild and was asked about the impact of Ronaldo’s transfer last summer to Juventus.

“It would be strange if you didn’t miss someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, who has decided so many matches with his goals.”

“His transfer, however, made everyone happy. He wanted a new experience and Real Madrid earned a lot of money.”

Obviously, when Kroos is talking about everyone being happy from Ronaldo’s transfer, he’s saying all parties came out with something good from it. Real clearly lost in the short-term after a dreadful last season, but are hoping to have their closest replacement for Cristiano in Eden Hazard.

While Real lost a legend and their best player, they gained a significant amount of money that has helped fund a renovation project this summer that seems to still be in progress. It’s now up to them to make sure this rather expensive project pays off and lessens the pain of Ronaldo’s departure.

Real Madrid reportedly make official approach for Van de Beek—De Telegraaf

According to Telegraaf’s Mike Verweij, who is considered a Tier 1 source for Ajax, Real Madrid have reportedly approached Ajax for 22-year-old midfielder Donny van de Beek.

Verweij reports that Marc Overmars, Ajax’s director of football affairs, is looking for around €50-60 million for the Dutchman.

Van de Beek is coming off a great season, not only for himself but also Ajax, where he played a big role in helping them win the Eredivisie and make it to the Champions League semi-final.

Not only is he a much younger midfielder, much like former teammate Frenkie de Jong, he is shaping up nicely to be a great player as he continues to mature. He would be a guaranteed starter for Los Blancos in a few seasons at the rate he is going.

MARCA previously reported that Real were looking as a backup plan to Paul Pogba, so it seems there is some great truth to these reports. If things progress well, it seems like Van de Beek will hopefully be the next summer signing for the club if they are willing to pay the reported fee.