6th November, 2021
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Eden Hazard is unhappy with his limited role at the club this season.
The Belgian so far has featured in only 10 games for Real Madrid in all competitions this season starting in only five.
Ancelotti has said openly that he prefers to play young Vinicius Junior, who has nine goals and seven assists in his 15 outings this year.
Hazard is, however, expected to see a decent amount of minutes in Saturday’s meeting with Rayo Vallecano, before which Ancelotti admitted that the Belgian is struggling to accept his bit-part role at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“He is not happy because he is a player who has quality, who is training well, is serious and deserves to have minutes for what he is doing and he will have them if he continues like this,” Ancelotti said (via the club’s official website). “The important thing is that he is switched on.
“As I said, I am sorry because it is quite easy to put a player on the bench who is not a professional in training, but he is very professional and he will have minutes. I said there will be minutes. At first I have to think about it. I have a day to think about the lineup.
Hazard’s limited starts have generated plenty of transfer rumours, with Chelsea and Newcastle United unconvincingly tipped to be plotting moves, but Hazard himself has not shown he wants to leave the club in January.
Real don’t want to lose him either as they look to mount a push for the La Liga title. However, his future in the club remains uncertain beyond summer.