Why Did Eden Hazard Fail At Real Madrid & Now Retired?

Eden Hazard's time at Real Madrid can be described as a disaster, a disastrous transfer from Chelsea, which saw Real Madrid pay more than $100 million. Most of the price could never be recovered, even from the sale of jerseys.

From the very beginning, Hazard transfer was controversial as Madridistas wanted Mbappe or Neymar instead of Hazard.

It was 2019, Ronaldo had just left Real Madrid for Juventus, and Eden Hazard was signed as his replacement as an iconic number 7. Eden Hazard was Zidane's primary choice over Neymar, as there was news around Paris that Neymar was not happy about his new role and teammates in Paris, especially Cavani.

This made Neymar a prime target for Madrid, but his connection with Barcelona was what was worrying; surely he did not want to live a Luis Figo situation in a digital era.

So what made Real Madrid sign Hazard then?

Hazard was right off what could be the best fit for Real Madrid, at least that is what many pundits have thought.

He had worked with Jose Mourinho, A class manager who was also responsible for changing how Madrid played football during Pep's era. Jose Mourinho integrated that same counter-attacking style in his beloved Chelsea, the same Chelsea where Hazard shone and was the star.

Everybody thought the guy was the best fit for the playing style of Real Madrid.

And this statement is not false at all, you see, Eden did not flop because he was tactically unfit for Madrid, he failed because he took La Liga way more casually.

The first alarm bell rang when Eden Hazard reported out of shape. The media mocked the new signing by branding him "Burger King" as he had his belly out when he first appeared in training.

During the start of the season, Hazard showed some really brilliant stuff, dribbling off players, passing diagonally, creating chances, but all this faded when he faced his first injury in the PSG game. The tackle from Thomas Munier saw him sidelined for more than 3 months.

This was the first blow that Hazard got in his promising career.

It all started going straight downhill from here.

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If we see it from the fan perspective, this will give you a different perspective. You are a living fan of Real Madrid, and after enduring a horrible season, your club gave you a ray of hope, a signing that could turn things around, and that was really satisfying, at least for your heart

But as soon as you think that you will be seeing the best of him, he gets injured, more frustratingly, he was never there when it was against the biggest club rival, Barcelona.

Yes, even after spending +3 years in Real Madrid, Eden Hazard was not able to compete in even one El Clásico.

This is a classic disappointment for a hardcore fan.

The rise of Brazilian Wonder Kids also sidelined Eden Hazard

Now, this was the time in around 2021, there was a consistent absence from Real Madrid star Eden, but Brazilian kids like Vini and Rodrygo had started showing the world what they were capable of.

Santiago Solari gave Vinicius his first chance to Vinicius back in 2019. Since then, the two Brazilian kids had been in constant battle; to an extent, Vini became a face of the Real Madrid franchise. Having won the 2022 Champions League, Eden Hazard was a thing of the past; now they had Karim Benzema and Vini.

It all started to go downhill for Eden as Carlo Ancelotti became the new manager of Madrid after the departure of Zidane.

Carlo Ancelloti looked down upon him hugely, he did not care to start Eden even when he was 100% fit, that said we cannot blame Carlo thoroughly, as if the player wanted he could have raised voice against the treatment, but Hazard did quite opposite, he was satisfied to be sidelined, at least this is what fans saw, spending his holidays and getting paid fat paycheck was all he cared.

Now, getting sidelined by Carlo went on for the whole two seasons, and we barely saw Hazard that we knew before.

Eden Does Not Regret His Time at Real Madrid

After his departure, Eden Hazard has sat in several interviews and podcasts discussing his life and role at Real Madrid.

He said, "he is happy to have played for his idol Zidane" during his time in Madrid.

He reflected that he felt that "football was over" for him, and now, spending time with friends and family is all that matters.

On a positive note, he reflected on an unseen role of motivating his teammates during their unbelievable Champions League run of 2022.

Eden Hazard has retired from playing football now. He comes and interviews in a couple of podcasts that give us some view on his time at Chelsea and Real Madrid, but that is it, no Saturday dribblings, assists and goals from Eden Hazard from now on.