Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid last summer for 100 million euros, but how many years can he play at the highest level for the club?
Heading into the summer 2020 transfer window, Eden Hazard is undoubtedly Real Madrid‘s most gifted player and star in the attack. When Hazard was on the ball and fully healthy last season, he showed a different type of class, averaging well over three dribbles completed per game and three fouls drawn per game, according to WhoScored.com.
But Hazard wasn’t healthy for much of the season. He entered the year needing to recover from a minor injury, suffering a serious ankle knock in late November, and then got injured again in the second half of the season just a couple of games after returning.
Furthermore, Hazard is 29 years old. He’s taken on a lot of wear and tear over the years after being the most fouled player in the Premier League as an absolute workhorse for Chelsea, starting and finishing attacks at a legendary rate.
Hazard is a world-class player who makes Real Madrid that much better when he’s on the pitch, but in the back of their minds, the decision-makers at the Santiago Bernabeu, specifically Zinedine Zidane, need to think about managing the Belgian’s minutes. Because they need to be worried about how much the 100 million euro man can give over the course of his contract.
His contract runs out after the 2023-2024 season, meaning he’s signed with Los Blancos for four more years. By the time his deal ends, Hazard will be 33 years old, and given his position as a creative left winger and all the hits he’s taken (including two major knocks in 2019-2020), it’s fair to wonder how much he has left in the tank.
At the age of 33, Hazard can still be a productive player. But there’s no way he can start regularly for Los Blancos at that age, especially when considering he only played about 750 minutes in La Liga this past season.
Real Madrid, thankfully, have two rising superstars in Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Junior on the wings, with Vinicius already proving to be a key player in the starting XI after Hazard’s second injury when the calendar hit March hits past season. As a creator, dribbler, and two-way winger, Vinicius is the type of workhorse who can ideally replace Hazard one day.
That day may be sooner than Real Madrid would like to admit, even though Hazard is still one of the top 10 players in the world when healthy. Los Blancos will need to strongly consider managing when he plays, using Vinicius and playing Hazard when the matchup fits and when it’s an especially important game.
The 2019-2020 season was a warning sign. Hazard only has maybe two more years of playing world-class football as an all-out, take-all-comers No. 7 before the decline really hits. And in order to make the most out of their investment, Real need to be cognizant of the mileage in Hazard’s tank and the best way to mitigate this decline in order to still get production out of him when the final year of his deal approaches.