transfer news

Hazard reiterates hope for Madrid or Arsenal move

April 2, 2010
By Soccernet staff

Lille midfielder Eden Hazard has again said he would welcome a move to Real Madrid or Arsenal should he decide to leave the club.

Eden Hazard, Nicolas Dieuze
GettyImagesEden Hazard (L) has frequently been linked with Europe's top clubs

Hazard, 19, is already established in the Belgium national team and has continued to impress for Lille this season having made his debut in 2007.

Zinedine Zidane, an advisor to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, said this week that he believed Hazard would become a great footballer and feels he could succeed at the Bernabeu.

"He is a star of the future," Zidane said. "He is strong technically and very fast. I would take him to Madrid without a second's thought."

Hazard has since responded to those comments and suggested that he would welcome a move to either Madrid or Arsenal.

"Such praise makes me very happy, especially from Zidane," he said. "As a child, he was my idol. If one day I leave Lille, I will go to Real or Arsenal.''

The comments echo remarks from Hazard last year, when he said: "Real Madrid and Arsenal are the clubs I dreamed of joining as a child.

"If I joined Inter or Barcelona and could play football there then that would be very good, but Real and Arsenal are really great and play at a very high technical level."