Meunier tackle, injuries and a lack of drive ruined REAL Hazard at Madrid

The headlines were all written in 2019 on the day he was presented at Real Madrid for £90million plus £40m in add-ons. He would turn the Santiago Bernabeu into the ‘Garden of Eden’, destroying teams with the skills that had made him one of Chelsea’s all-time greats.

But Eden Hazard, who retired on Tuesday aged 32, never really came out to play in Spain.

There was one important injury and those at Real Madrid, who brought him to the club with such high hopes, will always wonder what might have been had he not been kicked by international team-mate Thomas Meunier in November 2019 in a Champions League game against Paris Saint Germain.

But there were also moments when his attitude fell short. He turned up five kilos overweight for his first pre-season and former team-mates have since admitted his drive perhaps never matched his immense ability.

In an interview with Mail Sport Hazard’s former Chelsea team-mate Filipe Luis revealed: 'Eden’s the best I’ve played with. He’s up there with Lionel Messi, winning games alone. But he didn’t run to defend much, didn’t train well, and five minutes before games he’d be playing Mario Kart in the dressing room.’

That paints a picture of a happy-go-lucky entertainer who always believed he could come good in the end if only given the chance. At Madrid things move quickly, however. You can’t ‘get fit by playing’ as he appeared to try to do when he joined.

And once a season goes by when you have not produced there is someone in the queue behind ready to take your place.

When he was finally free of injuries and ready to make a go of things in the first half of last season, ahead of the World Cup, there was no longer a place for him in the team. The phenomenon that is and was Vinicius had emerged