Real Madrid Terminates Contract with Eden Hazard: A Closer Look at His Disappointing Performance

The official announced on his website Real Madrid to terminate the contract of 32-year-old Eden Hazard by mutual agreement, so the player will be free to certify after June 30. In the short statement, the club expressed its gratitude to the Belgian midfielder, although there was not much thanks for what he did during his four years in Madrid.

Considering the big transfer fee, Real Madrid made the biggest overreach in their history by signing Hazard. In 2019, the Belgian star was also given the number seven shirt, which was expected to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, and this was also indicated by the club record €115 million they paid for him to Chelsea.

For this reason, Hazard was injured or sick for 360 days in his first two seasons in Madrid, i.e. almost a full year, and since then he has been an absolute fringe player in Carlo Ancelotti’s team. This season, he played only 392 minutes in ten games for Real.

A huge disappointment compared to the expensiveness of Real Madrid

Considering Real Madrid’s record signings, Hazard’s performance is a huge disappointment. Before the Belgian, Gareth Bale was the club’s most expensive signing, he arrived from Tottenham in 2013 for 101 million. Even though the Welshman’s departure was not pretty, he scored 106 goals in 258 games and was a key figure in the Champions League victories.

Before Bale, the club record was held by Cristiano Ronaldo, for whom they paid Manchester United 94 million in 2009. He became the most successful player in the club’s history with 450 goals. It would be difficult to list the other merits.

Before Ronaldo, for a long time, Zinedine Zidane was the transfer record holder in Madrid, who arrived from Juventus in 2001 for 77.5 million. The following year, he decided the CL final against Bayer Leverkusen with a beautiful shot. And that was just his most memorable moment of many.

In comparison, Hazard hardly played, and when he did, it wasn’t outstanding either. Even so, he won eight titles with the team, including a BL gold and two league titles, but he had little to do with them.

Big announcements in Madrid

Life has revived around Real’s house. The club also announced Marco Asensio’s departure on Saturday, but according to Transfermarkt’s exclusive information, Karim Benzema, whose contract is also expiring, will stay for another year. Even so, there are still many question marks: the contracts of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos and Nacho Fernández also expire in the summer.

Cover photo: Eden Hazard leaves Real after four years (Photo: AFP/Bruno Fahy)