Real Madrid Transfer News 2015: Eden Hazard or Alexis Sanchez to Replace Cristiano Ronaldo?
Real Madrid is apparently already looking for life after Cristiano Ronaldo.
"It looks like this could be the last season of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid," reported Guillem Balague according to Sky Sports. "It also looks as though Real Madrid aren't completely unhappy that this is the case."
The superstar has been far more inconsistent this season with his goalscoring and it looks like the team might be looking to new options to fill his void.
A void that amounts to roughly 40-50 goals per year. While some might believe that Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez should manage well by committee with another major addition, it will be a truly big problem to overcome.
Two options being floated around include Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez. The former is at a low point, having been benched by Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho while the latter has scored 10 goals in his last six games for club and country.
Hazard has often been linked with Madrid. He is only 24, is a tenacious dribbler and is seen as someone that could someday rise to a high level of production.
Yet Hazard has hit a huge rut this season production-wise. Through 10 Premier League tilts (and three Champions League bouts) he has a goose egg in the goals column; last year he had 17 goals across both competitions. He has just two assists; he had 11 last season. His other underlying stats paint a rather painful picture. Hazard is averaging 1.2 shots per game in the EPL, down from his career-average of 1.8 (he had 2.1 in 2015-16). His dribbles per game, one of his major assets, is at an average of 3.1 per game; he had 4.8 per game in the EPL a year ago. His 52 passes per game is a huge drop from the 58.4 per game last season. The only statistic to grow is the key passes per game which are at 2.9 per game, up from 2.5 a season ago. Of course, through two games in the UCL, he has an average of 1.3 key passes per game across three matches.
Defensive stats are also down across the boards while fouls per game up are up.
It is not a pretty picture, but it is emblematic of the shambolic start Chelsea has had to the season. Context is everything and might be the reason for Hazard's poor start.
He might come cheap when all is said and done and could be the answer for Los Blancos.
However the team cannot ignore what is happening elsewhere in London where Chilean Alexis Sanchez is looking rather excellent.
The 26-year-old has 10 goals in his last six for club and country and is excelling where many others are currently failing.
Through 10 EPL matches, Sanchez has six goals, one fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo's current output in La Liga. While Ronaldo is averaging around seven shots per game, Sanchez is scoring with just 4.8 shots per game. He also has one goal and two assists in three Champions League matches.
Interestingly, Sanchez is not showing a huge spike in numbers outside of the goals scored and shots taken thus far. In fact, his key passes per game are down from a year ago, as are his dribbles per game. That said, his numbers a year ago (and even this season) are much better than any numbers he ever put up with Barcelona between 2011-12 through 2013-14. For what its worth, Sanchez is showing tremendous consistency in his passing and attacking game but is taking more shots and getting rewarded. His 12.5 scoring conversion rate is actually lower than his career average of 16 percent, so it is possible that when regression hits, he might actually start scoring even more if he continues shooting as often as he is. He might also find himself shoot less (though why would Arsenal ever ask for that) and the numbers would correspondingly decline.
Whatever the case, at Madrid Sanchez would be a huge attacking asset that could potentially provide a ton of goals for years to come. At 26, Sanchez is entering his peak and could be an ample replacement for Madrid.
Then again, so could Hazard if he gets back on track.