Three lessons Real Madrid can learn from Eden Hazard’s signing

The club needs to analyse its requirements before signing a player

As I have mentioned in the previous slide, Real Madrid were very desperate in the summer of 2019, and they were firm in their decision of signing a big-name player. One of the best players available then was Hazard, and he had been the club’s target for many years. Even Zidane was a huge fan of the Belgian captain and the gaffer had asked for his signing.

Hazard had a slow start to life at Madrid, but he slowly settled into life at Los Blancos. With time he got more involved in the buildup play and combined well with the likes of Toni Kroos and especially Karim Benzema, and there was a visible change in the way Real Madrid’s attack was operating, in October and November 2019. The player on the left wing would be taking on players, and would often create danger in the box.

Unfortunately, Hazard couldn’t play at the same level after back to back ankle injuries, and he couldn’t take on players like he used to. There were questions asked if Hazard was the player Real Madrid needed. And the people asking the question might not be wrong after all, due to some reasons.

Real Madrid’s goal output had decreased from 148 in 2017/18 to 108 in 2018/19. The difference was 40 goals, a barrier that Cristiano Ronaldo had easily broken in eight consecutive seasons before 2018/19. Real Madrid had three goal-threats in Benzema, Bale and Cristiano until 2018. But following Bale’s decline and Cristiano’s exit, there was only one regular goalscorer in Karim Benzema, who stepped up brilliantly. The club needed a goalscorer to accompany Benzema.

But the club ended up signing Hazard, who is more of a creative player, with his numbers at Chelsea suggesting the same. He had breached the 20 goal barrier only once in the seven years he spent at Chelsea. It’s not his fault that he is not a natural goalscorer, even Hazard jokingly admitted that he can never replicate Cristiano Ronaldo’s numbers at Real Madrid. But the club should have set its priorities straight.

Eden Hazard not being a goalscorer doesn’t mean the club shouldn’t have signed him. An Eden Hazard in form is a blessing for the club. But he wasn’t a natural goalscorer, and the club could’ve supported him by placing a goalscorer on the right. A prime Gareth Bale could’ve been a perfect partner, but the 2019 version of Gareth Bale was uninterested in life at Madrid. Vinicius and Lucas Vazquez weren’t suited to be that goalscorer, either, though Rodrygo showed some promise from that position.

The club did get a goalscorer in Luka Jovic, but there was never a chance of Karim Benzema, Jovic and Hazard starting together. This definitely teaches Real Madrid another lesson. The club should set their priorities straight, and make signings with a proper sporting vision behind them.