Eden Hazard has not had a great time, ever since joining Real Madrid from Chelsea in a club record deal. He was an absolute superstar at Stamford Bridge and had established himself as a Premier League legend and one of the best players in the world during his time there. It is safe to say that things have not gone as smoothly as one would have expected at Santiago Bernabeu.
Fans had hoped that he would become a Ballon d’Or contender after moving to Real Madrid and do a good job of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo, who had left for Juventus the year earlier. Reality has proven to be quite different.
Hazard has had to deal with a series of injuries during the past three years or so at Real Madrid. He has been reduced to pretty much a bench player, with how well the likes of Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and even Federico Valverde are performing. As a result, the Belgian might be the last choice winger at the club right now.
Some of his recent comments were interesting though, as Hazard admitted he wanted to play more. Many interpreted it as him wanting to leave. But discussing the situation in his exclusive CaughtOffside column and as reported by CaughtOffside, Fabrizio Romano said:
"“Eden Hazard has spoken about wanting to play more, but does it mean he’s looking for a move? Not necessarily.“Real Madrid were very clear during the summer: they expect a lot from Hazard this season and this is still the case.“I think Hazard wanted to send a message as he wants to play more, but there’s nothing imminent with any other club as of now, we’ll see in 2023.”"
Does Hazard have a future at Real Madrid?
In the off-season, there was a lot of hype surrounding Hazard finally returning to his old form this season.
But with the series of injuries that Hazard has suffered since moving to Real Madrid, one has to question whether he is even capable of rediscovering his best form anymore.
He did put in one good performance, in the Champions League opener vs Celtic, but other than that, Hazard has done nothing of note this season and if things continue like this, it is hard to see him ever breaking into Carlo Ancelotti’s plans.