Aston Villa linked with move for €100m Champions League winner but could face Newcastle United competition

Life at Villa Park under Unai Emery got off to the perfect start at the weekend as Aston Villa picked up all three points with a 3-1 Premier League victory over Manchester United.

The Villains have just two fixtures remaining before domestic football goes on hiatus for the FIFA World Cup finals this month, firstly against the Red Devils again but this time in the EFL Cup and then away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. The Premier League returns over the festive period which will be just a few days before the January transfer window opens. Speculation is already rampant about what big deals could be done and the latest news coming out of Spain has Villa linked with a superstar of the modern game.

According to El Nacional, Aston Villa are interested in signing Eden Hazard from Real Madrid with the Champions League winners reportedly ‘no longer having trust’ in the Belgian. The report claims that the former Chelsea star’s performances for Los Blancos have been well below the standards they expected when signing him for the blues for a reported €100 million in 2019. Meanwhile, it is also said that Hazard himself believes that “his time at Real Madrid has come to an end and is already looking for a new destination”.

The 31-year old’s aim is to apparently perform well for Belgium at the upcoming World Cup finals and earn a decent salary by returning to the Premier League. Newcastle United are said to be the ‘most interested club’ with their Saudi Arabia ownership having the finances to secure the player but Villa are also said to be interested with the report mentioning how they were able to ‘rescue’ Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona and ‘want to do the same for Hazard’.

Hazard’s current contract with Real Madrid does not expire until the summer of 2024 but the Spanish side are reportedly eager to force his exit early. Initial plans were apparently to move the Belgian on in the summer but the report claims that Madrid will do what they can to move him on sooner with the hopes of removing his wages from their bill and also recouping some of the money they spent on his massive transfer fee.