Real Madrid have confirmed that Eden Hazard will be leaving the club at the end of the ongoing season. The winger’s contract will be terminated, and he will be free to find a new club. However, it is yet uncertain whether he will continue to play professional football after leaving Madrid or whether he will retire.
The former Chelsea player has already called it quits for the Belgian national team, after the 2022 World Cup. And now, we might have seen the end of his playing career now that Madrid have no plans of continuing with him anymore.
Real Madrid officially part ways with Eden Hazard
“Real Madrid Football Club and Eden Hazard have reached an agreement whereby the player will leave the club as of 30 June 2023.
“Real Madrid would like to express our affection to Eden Hazard and we wish him and his family the best of luck for the next stage of his career,” the official statement released by the club read.
The 32-year-old will be joining the likes of Marco Asensio, Mariano Diaz and potentially Dani Ceballos and Karim Benzema on the way out of the club. While Asensio and Diaz have been confirmed, the futures of Ceballos and Benzema remain uncertain for the time being.
Hazard has spent four years at the Spanish capital, and has won the La Liga title twice, the 2022 Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey during his time with Los Blancos.
How has Eden Hazard’s time at Real Madrid been?
| Matches | 76 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 12 |
| Injuries | 18 |
When the forward made the move from Chelsea in 2019, on the back of their Europa League title win, this was not the dream that he was seeing. For arguably the best player in the Premier League at the time, Real Madrid was supposed to be a step up. But, his time in white has been nothing short of a nightmare.
Injuries have taken their toll on his body, leaving him incapable of reproducing the brilliance he once showed with Chelsea. And now, having been frozen out of Real Madrid, he is leaving as a mere shadow of his former self.
As one of Real Madrid’s record transfers, he arrived overweight in his very first summer at the club. And things took a turn for worse in pre pre-season itself as injury after injury hampered his progress. Since then, he has been sidelined 18 times, almost the same number of goal contributions he has provided in the last four years.
Hazard has been restricted to making only 76 appearances for the club of his dreams, and it is heartbreaking to see a player of his quality not being able to perform at his best, at a stage that he wanted for himself.
What next for Eden Hazard?
A potential move to Saudi Arabia or Turkey could be on the cards for the veteran winger now. Although Chelsea have been linked with a fairytale return, such transfers rarely happen. And more importantly, the club has moved on quite far in their sporting project to have to sign Eden Hazard anymore.
As a result, a move to a less competitive league or retirement seem to be the only realistic options available right now.
