Torres: Hazard can reach the top at Madrid

Real Madrid will provide Eden Hazard with the platform he needs to reach the highest level, according to Fernando Torres.

Chelsea this month sold Hazard, who had one year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge, to Madrid in a deal said to be worth €130 million.

Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo have also arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu as Zinedine Zidane bids to rejuvenate Los Blancos after a dismal 2018-19 season, in which they finished third in La Liga and only won the Club World Cup.

Torres believes Madrid offers his former Chelsea team-mate Hazard with the perfect stage to raise his game, though the Belgium international will need to ensure he has the appropriate mindset.

"[Madrid] have got the brand where every player in the world wants to play there, and when they call the players see it as a club where you can make history," Torres, who last week announced his retirement, told AS.

"Hazard is a spectacular footballer who needs the boost from a club like Real Madrid to reach the level he can reach, which he did at Chelsea in a fleeting manner.

"It remains to be seen if he's able to push himself to want to be better. His ability and the conditions are perfect.

"Sometimes it seemed he struggled to want to be better when I saw him training, it was clear he could be at the level of the best. Now he's got the stage on which to do it. It'll depend more on his mentality than his football."

June 14, 2019

Madrid sold Marcos Llorente to Atletico Madrid in a reported €40m deal, the midfielder arriving at the Wanda Metropolitano ahead of Rodri's anticipated switch to Manchester City.

Torres does not see an issue with Llorente moving from Atleti's arch-rivals and hopes the club can become a place where players see out their careers.

"Atleti is bigger now than thinking about which team the players come from. What's more important is where they are leaving to go," said the World Cup winner.

"There will come a time when players will see Atleti as their final destination, where they want to win, to stay, to be part of the history and be remembered forever.

"It is a step that will be taken soon. No matter where you come from or the name, it matters that you are committed to Atleti.

"Once you're there, the people in the club are able to convey what it means. And the day they decide to leave they do so respecting what the club has given them, and nobody will reproach them for anything."