Depending on which team you’re rooting for, Eden Hazard is considered a major flop or one of the football GOATs of the past decade.
If you’re a Real Madrid supporter, he is arguably one of their most underwhelming transfer additions ever, and that may be an understatement. But if you’re a Chelsea fan, many consider him one of the team’s greatest players due to his exploits in the Premier League.
Eden Hazard made headlines in the Premier League 2023 news when he announced his retirement from football at just 32 years old. Many say that he’s too young to walk away from the beautiful game, but it’s hard to blame him given what he has dealt with in the past few years.
As we look back, join SBOTOP today as we evaluate the Belgian’s football career as a whole.
He reached cult hero status at Chelsea
After spending the first five years of his professional career (2007-2012) with Lille in Ligue 1, Eden Hazard made the switch to Chelsea in what was perhaps one of the greatest transfers ever.
He became an instant household name in West London as he dazzled the Blues fans with his unique blend of creativity, athleticism, and goal scoring. In his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge (2012-13), Hazard notched 13 goals and 23 assists, helping them win the Europa League title that season.
It was a sign of more things to come from the Blues’ No. 10 because he would do more of the same in the next few seasons, which includes back-to-back player of the season awards following Jose Mourinho’s return. In his six Premier League campaigns, Hazard has won the individual citation four times.
His best individual season at Chelsea was probably in 2018-19, where he recorded 16 goals and 15 assists, as only three other players have ever scored and assisted 15+ in a single campaign. In fact, in 2018, Hazard was a Top 10 candidate in the Ballon d’Or, which was eventually won by Luka Modric.
But while more accolades came his way as the years went by, his then-manager Jose Mourinho, who seems to always get it right with his predictions, revealed an eerie premonition about Hazard’s career trajectory.
The Portuguese boss feared that, while Hazard’s star was shining the brightest at the time, he might fizzle out sooner than expected because of his poor habits.
It was revealed that Hazard was not exactly a role model at practice, and he also wasn’t the most fastidious when it came to taking care of his body, which clearly didn’t help because he was one of, if not the most, fouled players at the time since it was the only way that his opponents could stop him from wreaking havoc all over the pitch.
With everything he had done at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea could’ve kept him for a few more years (especially now to improve their Premier League 2023 odds). But in a surprise twist, they opted to sell him to Real Madrid, who paid a fortune to bring him to the Bernabeu.
It just didn’t work out at Real Madrid
Following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and the club’s fallout with Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard was expected to be the one who would carry Los Blancos to more titles. However, Hazard’s bad health prevented it from coming to fruition.
All in all, the Belgian forward suffered 18 separate injuries during his time in the Spanish capital, most of them to his lower extremities.
Despite that, Real Madrid managed to win six more trophies, including two La Liga titles (2019-20 and 2021-22) and one Champions League (2021-22), but Hazard was largely anonymous in those triumphs.
Real Madrid terminated Hazard’s contract in July because he never got over his fitness woes. In 76 appearances, Real Madrid only got a poor return of seven goals from Hazard.
Hazard could’ve had a better ending
It’s sad that Eden Hazard never reached his full potential, whether through his own fault or not, especially since there have been a few players as naturally gifted as him.
However, he will take solace knowing that he did it his way. Yes, he retired too early, but it also means that he has his whole life ahead of him, and he has more than enough to pursue what he wants to do next. It remains to be seen what’s next for Hazard. Either way, the streets in West London will always remember what a fantastic footballer he was. Just don’t tell that to Real Madrid fans.
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