LW Eden Hazard
By far the easiest player to sell on this list, Eden Hazard has no future at Real Madrid. The Belgian winger is no longer really a winger. As the goal tally shows, he’s also not as productive as Marco Asensio, nor is he as valuable tactically as a right-footer. Vinicius Jr. has the left wing on lock, Rodrygo Goes can play there, and Kylian Mbappe will be coming in. Hazard is redundant. A move to a 4-4-2 would not favor him either.
Madridistas like Hazard personally and wanted him to succeed at the Bernabeu. Briefly, he did live up to the No. 7 billing, and he would have been a star…if it weren’t for that fateful injury against PSG in November 2019. He has never been the same since.
Hazard is not as easy to sell as Marco Asensio and Luka Jovic, because he is not a player with a handful of years of top-level football ahead of him. He is not a player with scoring upside, and goals are at a premium on the transfer market. Hazard is a luxury piece whose game is now based on little touches and dribbles in the final third. He is no longer a superstar, though he can still be effective. Yet how many games he can be effective for before injury, nobody knows.
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The 20 million euro-plus salary is what makes it so important for Real Madrid to move Hazard, because that salary can help Los Blancos sign another player who can boost the team more. But those wages are so onerous for most teams. With Chelsea seemingly off the table due to sanctions, the number of suitors may have went from one to zero…but all it takes is one smart deal and one ambitious team to give Eden a second chance. Like James Rodriguez, Madridistas would be rooting for Hazard. But like James, the reality is that Eden might be done…