Real Madrid Transfer News: Latest on Eden Hazard and Marco Reus

European champions Real Madrid will jet off to the Club World Cup with a staggering 20 consecutive wins under their belt, and the challenge for Carlo Ancelotti and this wonderful group of players will be to preserve their glittering form with vital fixtures to come.

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Some new faces in the January window would do plenty to freshen things up at the club, and there’s good and bad news reported in the press when it comes to Los Blancos’ apparent pursuit of two of the world’s finest young attacking players.

First of all, the bad news. The Santiago Bernabeu club have been linked with a move for Chelsea man Eden Hazard, but the Belgian looks set to commit himself to the Premier League leaders by signing a money-spinning long-term deal; just reward for the 23-year-old you could certainly say, especially after his magnificent start to the campaign.

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Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked with the former LOSC Lille winger, but his manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed negotiations are well underway and are looking promising, per Hannah Duncan of Metro. “It will be done soon," said the Chelsea boss when asked about the extension. “But I’m not worried because they’re almost there."

As noted here by Squawka Football, the Blues’ No. 10 has been thrilling to watch this season:

Hazard, who was named Chelsea’s Player of the Year last season, has dazzled defenders with his engrossing intricacy, blistering speed and incisive edge in dangerous areas. He’s a player that will always be linked with Europe’s big spenders, but at this juncture, his current employers look as well-placed as anyone to challenge for major honours.

Hazard has been vital to their pursuit of these honours too, especially the Champions League, as we can see here courtesy of WhoScored.com:

The news will represent a blow to Los Blancos if they did indeed harbour an interest in Hazard, but there are plenty of stellar attacking talents that’ll be willing to play for a club of Real’s irrepressible gravitas. It’s that kind of pulling power that has reportedly convinced Marco Reus to join the club.

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That’s according to well-respected FIFA agent Francois Gallardo, who has boldly claimed that the deal could be wrapped up very quickly, per Chisanga Malata of the Daily Star:

"

Real Madrid will sign Reus and operation will close within days.

It is a very important player, if it comes to Real Madrid would be the icing for long-term project. He is following in a while and you want the best clubs, but he said no to all but the Real Madrid.

"

It seems the Borussia Dortmund man may have actually made up his mind a long time ago too, as noted here by Bild, per German football expert Clark Whitney:

Here's a look at why a host of European football's finest are reportedly in the market for the Borussia Dormund forward:

Stylistically, there are plenty of similarities when it comes to Reus and Hazard, so perhaps Madrid are targeting a particular kind of player. Here's a look at how the two have compared this campaign, in what has been an admittedly injury-ravaged campaign for the Dortmund man:

	Hazard	Reus
Appearances	16	7
Goals	6	3
Assists	2	2
Shots per Game	2.1	4.1
Key Passes per Game	2.4	2.9
Dribbles per Game	4.6	2.6

As fine a player as Reus is—and he is an adaptable, scintillating forward—it's difficult to see quite where he would fit into this Real Madrid starting XI. The German international's best position is arguably in an advanced role on the left flank and at this juncture, Cristiano Ronaldo looks immovable in that particular position.

Indeed, Madrid's front three is functioning magnificently well as a collective during this stunning run, as noted here by Football_Tweet:

Real is a club that any player would find difficult to turn down, but if Reus is going to go somewhere, you can bet he'll want to play week in, week out. Unfortunately, unless Madrid make an unexpected sale of one of their star players, he simply won't get afforded that kind of reassurance at the Santiago Bernabeu. With that in mind, perhaps Gallardo has been a little pre-emptive in his comments.