Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has explained the reduced involvement of superstar Eden Hazard in recent games despite him being fit and available.
Speaking to the media, as quoted by Goal.com, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has shed some light on the situation that Eden Hazard finds himself in at the club.
The Belgian wing-wizard signed for Real Madrid from Chelsea in a mega-money deal back in 2019, but his time in Spain has been anything but successful. For the majority of his spell with the Merengues, Hazard has struggled with constant injury and fitness problems. As a result, he has featured just 51 times for Los Blancos to date, scoring five goals and assisting nine more.
In contrast, he has missed 59 games due to injuries. The 30-year-old has hardly been used as a regular by Carlo Ancelotti in the ongoing campaign, having started just four of Real Madrid’s nine La Liga matches and just one of their three UEFA Champions League clashes.
Hazard was an unused substitute in Real Madrid’s last game against arch-rivals Barcelona, with Ancelotti preferring the likes of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Marco Asensio ahead of the Belgian wing-wizard.
Opening up on the former Chelsea superstar’s situation at the club, Ancelotti said, “He can play 4-3-3 on the left or 4-4-2 above or behind the striker. He is ready to play, but the problem is that there is a coach who prefers another player. He does not have a star status at Madrid because he has had many injuries, and little by little he will have his best version.”
“I am sure that this season we will see his best version and that he will play more than he is doing now. Hazard has it. Everything: quality, motivation. He has to endure, what happens is that sometimes the coach prefers other players.”
Hazard has a contract with the Merengues that runs till the summer of 2024. However, the 30-year-old’s situation has led to speculations over his future at the club. Of late, a shock return to Chelsea, his old stomping ground, has been mooted.
It remains to be seen if he can resurrect his career at Real Madrid or is forced to make his way out of the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season, considering that the club are eyeing attacking reinforcements in the summer.
