The Belgium captain was rated among the best players in the world during his time at Chelsea, and the Los Blancos had to pay a massive £88m plus add-ons to sign the 29-year-old, despite the fact that he had just a year left on his contract.
However, Hazard has looked a shadow of himself since he moved to Real Madrid, and he has failed to impress for the Spanish giants. Hazard has scored just once in 22 games for Real Madrid, and he has been unfit and out of form as well.
Against Manchester City, Hazard was extremely poor, and only touched the ball 37 times during the 2-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium – the second-lowest total of any of the Blancos’ starters on the night.
Hazard’s performance was so poor that he failed to complete a single take-on during his 83 minutes on the pitch.
Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has accused Hazard of not taking the move to Madrid seriously, and insists that he arrived the club in poor physical shape.
“We all know how brilliant Hazard can be, we all know the difference he can make to a football team,” the former Chelsea forward told talkSPORT. “But he didn’t take the move to Madrid seriously, and he’s paid for it this season.
“He turned up overweight, he’s been playing catch-up, he’s getting niggly injuries. Watching him last night was like watching a completely different player.
“Kyle Walker must’ve been thinking, ‘Is this the same player I faced at Chelsea?’ “He’s a brilliant player, but he’s paid the price for turning up at Madrid for a big fee and not taking it seriously.