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Eden Hazard has struggled to live up to the expectation since he completed his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid.
The Belgian completed his transfer to Madrid for a fee worth £130 million in the summer of 2019 after an impressive spell at Chelsea.
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The former Chelsea forward made 352 appearances and scored 92 goals during his seven years spell at Stamford Bridge.
Since his move to Real Madrid, he was only able to score 12 goals in 76 appearances in the space of four years.
Hazard has had a difficult career at Madrid and here are the reasons why the former Chelsea man failed to live up to the expectation in Spain.
1. Price tag
According to Sky Sports, Eden Hazard was bought from Chelsea for a hefty price tag worth £130 million in 2019 which was the highest transfer fee that summer.
However, he could not replicate his performance at Chelsea for Madrid and fell down the pecking order.
Hazard’s price tag was an issue which also affected his performance in Madrid and added more pressure to his game.
He was expected to fill in the shoes of Cristiano Ronaldo but the hefty price tag and the pressure that came with it derailed his performance.
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2. Accumulated fatigue at Chelsea
Another problem that affected Hazard was that during his playing days at Chelsea, he was playing week-in-week-out.
He played over 350 games for Chelsea without adding international games to his appearances.
During his last season at Chelsea before moving to Real Madrid he got injured towards the end of the season and was rushed back due to the Europa League final clash against Arsenal.
He accumulated a lot of fatigue when he was still playing for Chelsea which also affected his performance after moving to Real Madrid.
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3. Multiple Injury
His injury issues started during his last season at Chelsea and ever since then, he has always been in and out of the treatment table.
According to the Mirror, Eden Hazard has picked up a total of 18 injuries for Real Madrid during the space of four years.
The re-occurrence of these injuries has affected him physically and psychologically as he struggles to stay fit.
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4. Pressure
One issue Hazard also struggled with at Real Madrid was the pressure that comes with playing for 14 times Champions League winners.
Eden Hazard was signed by Real Madrid to replace one of the best players in the world Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 450 goals in 438 appearances which is a big shoe to fit in.
The standard Ronaldo had set before leaving Madrid was a very high standard and Hazard could not replace the Portuguese forward and replicate his performance as many expected.
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5. Played his best football for Chelsea
The Belgian could not give much to Madrid after giving his best to Chelsea and was close to being nominated for the world's best player.
Hazard's performance at Chelsea was phenomenal and took the Premier League by storm and tormenting defenders was his major goal.
He was unable to do what he does best at Chelsea when he moved to Madrid because there was nothing else he could give.
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6. Ageing
Football players are on the cusp of their career's peak and its final stretch at the age of 30. Hazard's situation.
His chances have only been harmed by entering this struggle at the latter stage of his football career and had limited time to adjust, which reduces the likelihood of atonement.
Hazard also began to exhibit the consequences of his physique and quickness in his game and was unable to perform as well as he did while playing for Chelsea.
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7. Positioning
Hazard's placement for Chelsea and Real Madrid appears to be identical, but the playing spaces have been very different.
In Chelsea, he began from the left and frequently dipped inside to produce or shoot which has not happened in Madrid.
In his final season at Chelsea, Hazard operated in the area behind the striker, scoring 21 goals and providing 17 assists.
The playmaker has struggled thus far in the Spanish city and has not been able to experience similar success.
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