Real Madrid’s tie with Rayo Vallecano is their penultimate before the break for the World Cup, It means that the press will be starved of the opportunity to ask manager Carlo Ancelotti about potential market movements before the January transfer window and thus, Ancelotti had to field questions on the matter.
It was put to Ancelotti that in terms of minutes, Eden Hazard ranks 19th in the Real Madrid squad. The Italian was then asked if this was a trend that was likely to continue or whether he could end up being useful. Marca covered his response.
“I think that with Hazard, the thing is he has probably had less minutes than he deserves because of the competition. There are people who deserve to play more right now. At a big team you have to have competition, competition is motivation, competition is good. But that is why Hazard has probably had less minutes than he deserves.”
Equally, with Hazard as the focus, Ancelotti was asked if the transfer market was closed for Real Madrid both in terms of incomings and outgoings. In a previous press conference, Ancelotti had told the press the market was closed for Los Blancos.
Ancelotti explained the one situation in which they may have to change their plans.
“The idea is that it is closed, both in terms of the entrance and the exit door, but it’s also true that if someone asks to leave, you have to listen to them.”
Even then it might not be that simple. Marco Asensio asked to leave the club in the summer, but no offers arrived that satisfied both Real Madrid and Asensio. It seems unlikely that Los Blancos would allow any of their key players out of the door and as pointed out, it would not be hard to replace Hazard’s contribution this season.
