It has been 3 years since Eden Hazard made his big-money move to his dream club Real Madrid and it has not at all gone as per plan.
Since in arrival at the Spanish capital, Hazard struggled with his lack of fitness for games and has also picked up one too many injuries, preventing him from gaining any sort of consistency.
From August 2019 to November 2021, the Belgian has missed 68 games for Los Blancos due to a variety of muscular injuries, according to transfermarkt.co.in.
This lack of consistency meant that he began losing his starting 11 spot under then (2019-2021) manager Zinedine Zidane, who began counting on Vinicius Jr for the left-wing position.
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Vinicius has transformed into a totally different beast which further pushed Hazard away to the bench at the Bernabeu.
With numerous rumours circulating around the uncertain future of the Belgian at Madrid, it has been a disastrous transfer for both the club and the player.
The good news for Hazard is that the frequency of his injuries has stopped since the turn of the year and the player has looked sharper whenever called upon.
During Madrid’s Copa del Rey clash against Elche in January, it was Hazard who came off the bench in extra time to make an impact. He netted the decisive winner when Madrid were trailing with a man down after he latched onto a loose pass to the Elche goalkeeper and dribbled around him to slot it in from outside the box.
Hazard showed glimpses of the sharp and clinical magician he used to be while playing for Chelsea during this cup tie.
Eden Hazard looks slimmer than ever in new workout photo
It looks like the Belgian is progressing well with rebuilding his fitness as he was spotted by fans in perhaps the best shape in a Madrid shirt during training at Valdebebas.
— Alex Goldberg (@AlexGoldberg_) March 13, 2022
In the pictures, Hazard is seen working out in the club’s gym with the trainers doing a few stretching exercises. Sporting just a training vest, Hazard looks to have lost a lot of weight since his arrival in 2019 and looks as crisp as ever.
The Belgian was never the kind to sport six-pack abs even when he was ruining defences with Chelsea in the Premier League but it seems now he’s really giving it a shot at becoming better physically and not just skillwise.
When asked about the lack of minutes for Hazard this season, Ancelotti has repeatedly remarked that he will be important to the squad during the second half of the business end of the season.
As Madrid prepare for the final stretch in their pursuit of a European double, if Hazard maintains his fitness at this high level, the manager would definitely be counting on the Belgian to dust off and get going once again.