Eden Hazard’s time with Real Madrid is over. The La Liga giants announced on Saturday that it reached a contract termination with Hazard that will see the player depart one year before his contract was set to expire.
Hazard will leave the club after four disappointing seasons during which he only played 76 matches and scored seven goals.
It is unclear what Hazard’s next step will be. He isn’t expected to draw a lot of interest from big European clubs, so he might decide to cash in on his reputation and play in MLS or Saudi Arabia. He was most recently linked with CF Montréal.
Eden Hazard became one of the world’s best soccer players during his time with LOSC Lille and Chelsea. His creativity, vision, and feel for goal made him a nightmare for the opponent’s defenses and helped him win multiple individual accolades, including Premier League Player of the Season in 2014–15.
After he scored 110 goals and had 92 assists with Chelsea in seven seasons in Premier League, Hazard secured a €146 million transfer to Real Madrid, becoming the club’s most-expensive signing in history. He was expected to launch a new era for the famed La Liga side and help them get more trophies in the building. And while the trophies came, it wasn’t thanks to Hazard.
Hazard never settled in Madrid the way he was expected to. He missed long stretches with multiple injuries and struggled with inconsistencies when he was available. Eventually, he was phased out by younger and hungrier players like Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo and only played 10 games in all competitions in 2022-23 despite being healthy for the better part of the campaign.
