I have always appreciated Eden Hazard: Zidane

Eden Hazard has made several public remarks expressing interest in playing for his boyhood club Real Madrid.

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The 28-year-old has refused to extend his stay with Chelsea and with just a year and some few months left on his contract, the Blues would be forced to sell in order not to lose him next in the summer of 2020 for no fee.

There have been several reports that Zidane would make Hazard his top priority on his return to the Bernabeu and he seems to have confirmed the speculations after expressing interest in the Belgian.

“I will not give my personal opinion about what may happen because the season has not ended, but I’ve always appreciated him,” he said

“I’ve seen him a lot since I was playing in France. He’s fantastic.”

An overhaul of the squad will come with Zidane as yet unable to transform Madrid’s fortunes since his return as coach. They go into Saturday’s game on the back of a 2-1 loss away to Valencia on Wednesday night.

Madrid’s season is effectively over with nothing left to play for, but Zidane – who experienced a similar situation when Barca took the title by 12 points in 2006 – told his players they must play with pride to see out the campaign.

“I am not inside each player’s head,” he said when asked about motivation. “What I see in training is that they have the pride to finish the season well.

“Our defeat (to Valencia) says the opponent played well, but we did good things too.

“I’ve lived it as a player. It’s not easy. You have to accept it when things like this happen.

“The best way to get out of it is to work, to be happy when you win matches even if there’s nothing at stake.”