Real Madrid attacker joins Eden Hazard on the fringes as he gets dubbed 'worst signing' in club's history: Reports

RB Leipzig v Real Madrid: Group F - UEFA Champions League
RB Leipzig v Real Madrid: Group F - UEFA Champions League

Real Madrid will not make any attempts to keep Mariano Diaz beyond the 2022-23 season, Catalan outlet El Nacional has reported. Los Blancos reportedly consider Mariano to be an even worse signing than Eden Hazard and will happily see him leave as a free agent in June 2023.

Real Madrid have two players they want to offload in the summer, with both players offering very little to the club. The first is Hazard, who joined the club for a record €115 million in the summer of 2019.

The Belgian, who was once dubbed Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor, had an injury-stricken run in the beginning which took a massive toll on his confidence. He has since regained his fitness but is yet to establish himself as an important player under Carlo Ancelotti.

Mariano, who re-joined the club from Olympique Lyon in 2018 for a €21.5 million fee, is the second player Real Madrid are eager to offload. The player was close to signing for Sevilla a year after leaving Real Madrid for Lyon, but Madrid swooped in to keep it from happening.

The Dominican striker has appeared in 47 games for Madrid since his return, scoring only thrice. According to the aforementioned report, Mariano’s wages are considerably higher than the projected €4.5 million.

Despite being neglected by Zinedine Zidane and later Ancelotti, Mariano has refused to leave the club, reportedly because he understands that no other club would pay him as generously.

Mariano’s contract is set to run out this summer. Los Merengues reportedly have no intention of giving the player, whom they reportedly see as the worst signing in their history, an extension.


Eden Hazard confirms that international retirement was influenced by Real Madrid game time

Eden Hazard has explained why he has chosen to retire from international football. Speaking to RTBF, the former Chelsea superstar claimed that he could not see himself playing for the Belgian Red Devils when he is not playing regularly for Madrid.

Hazard said:

“I couldn't see myself not playing for Real Madrid and then getting to the national team and playing.
“I'm not coming back, I'm 100 percent sure.”

Hazard also talked about Zidane, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned to international football after retiring. He insisted that he would not make a u-turn as he has not been playing regularly at the club level.

"I don't see myself doing that and it's never been in my head. I think they retired... reluctantly? Well, I think we all retired a bit reluctantly when we left the national team in this way. Especially given my personal history.
"They still played in clubs, I play much less."

Since joining Real Madrid in 2019, Hazard has only featured in 73 games for the All-Whites in all competitions, scoring seven times and providing 11 assists.

Hazard’s last appearance for Belgium came in their goalless draw with Croatia in Group F. They were shockingly eliminated from the group stage, while Croatia and Morocco progressed.

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