Despite the high expectations, it was just one of those nights for Eden Hazard last night as he was withdrawn just 28 minutes into Real Madrid’s 2-1 home loss to Deportivo Alaves after being brought down in the box in what looked a silky challenge by the opposition defender.
Into his second season with Los Blancos, the Belgian has already missed 36 games due to injury at Real Madrid, while he’s had to be substituted in many others as he has had to endure nightmares after securing his dream move in the summer of 2019.
This is uncharacteristic of Hazard, who in his seven seasons at Chelsea, missed just 20 games due to injuries. His latest injury is the Belgian’s eighth in under two season at Real Madrid while he also missed out of action when he tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the month.
Hazard 29, has played just 28 games for Real Madrid since securing his big money move to the Spanish capital from Premier League club Chelsea, and has not been able to replicate the form that made Real Madrid spend €115m for his signature.
Time For Real Madrid To Move On ?
Being a top player and played at the top level for Chelsea since the moving to the club from Lille in the summer of 2012, much is expected of Eden Hazard at Real Madrid and many had hoped he will be a fair successor to Cristiano Ronaldo, however, the playmaker has not shown any glimpse of his brilliance with the Zinedine Zidane’s side.
Apart from his injury crisis, the player has also been questioned for his weight gain since moving to Madrid. The player might have been pardoned for this in his first season because he came in on the back of winning a trophy with Chelsea and deserve to celebrate but the same in his second season, an issue which was reported to have infuriated the Madrid hierarchy.
With three goals in Madrid shirt, it is a very low return at a club like Real who have high demands of their attackers having been served with loads of them by Cristiano Ronaldo. Moreso, they have young players, hungry for chances to make a name for themselves and turning up with better performances than Eden Hazard whenever given a chance.
It will be better if Real Madrid admit their failure with the decision to splash the clash on Eden Hazard and move on with new signings or the current players in their ranks as anyone seems to be a better choice than the former Lille man at the moment.
The extent of Hazard’s recent injury is not known but one thing is certain, he will not be missed on the pitch as he has been less influential when he was available.
Afolabi Kehinde Hassan
