Zero Clasico minutes EVER: Hazard needs to admit Real Madrid career is over
FT Desk
- Updated: 17 Oct 2022 18:58 BST
- 3 min read
Eden Hazard was an unused substitute as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 on Sunday. He is yet to feature in a Clasico since his €146.1 million move from Chelsea in 2019.
Hazard is Real's record signing, the deal to prise him away from Stamford Bridge taking his fee well clear of the circa €100m paid for Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo - and indeed that agreed with Monaco for Aurelien Tchouameni this summer.
He arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu as one of the Premier League's best players, and one of Chelsea's greatest ever; the owner of 85 goals and 61 assists in England's top flight and a four-time Blues' player of the year.
Eden Hazard has never played in El Clasico 😳 pic.twitter.com/lHWna6HzFa
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) October 17, 2022
But there have been eight Clasico's in all competitions since his 2019 move, and Hazard hasn't featured for a single minute in any of them. That's 720 minutes of the biggest fixture in Spanish football that have been bypassed.
It is also two Real Madrid managers, with Zinedine Zidane and now Carlo Ancelotti unconvinced by the Belgian, unwilling to put him in when it matters most.
Fierce competition
Hazard has Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde ahead of him in the pecking order for a wide attacking berth at Real. Previously, he still had Bale to contend with. Ancelotti confirmed his status recently.
"Eden hasn't had to speak to me because he knows the situation," the Italian said after Hazard complained about his lack of minutes. "That there's a lot of competition. I think his situation is quite clear."
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Hazard's situation appears to be clear to everyone but Hazard.
"When I play, I give it my all," he said last month. "It's a delicate situation at Real Madrid. I feel like playing more, but I can't do more. "I've always said the old Eden Hazard will come back when he plays. I just need to get back into the rhythm."
But he won't be given that chance at Real. And the sooner he realises it the better. Hazard's contract runs until 30 June 2024. If Chelsea are still willing to guy him out of it, player and current employer should bite their hands off.
