Football

No more misery. Eden Hazard’s career is officially over

A big fall from the top to the bottom. That’s how you could describe Eden Hazard’s career from 2018 to today. Once the Premier League’s best footballer, he became a bench warmer at Real Madrid until he retired at the age of 32.

Published

9 months ago

10. 10. 2023

Jirka Malý

Eden Hazard started his great career at Lille. He played five seasons in the French outfit’s jersey, netting 21 goals in the last one and earning a move to England.

There, he was picked up by Chelsea and Hazard quickly became one of the league’s stars. In the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons he netted 14 goals and added 7 and 9 assists respectively in the Premier League.

The following season did bring a big decline both club-wise and individually (4+3), however Hazard kicked it right back up a notch and netted 16 goals in the Premier League the following season.

The highlight was his final season in a Blues jersey. 16 goals and 15 assists in 37 league games, three goals in the EFL Cup and a 2+2 record in the Europa League.

At that point he was bought by Real Madrid for 115 million euros, but his career in Spain didn’t go the way he imagined. He scored only four goals in four seasons in the league, only played in six games in his final season and spent the rest on the bench or on the sidelines.

His contract was for one more year, but Hazard agreed an early termination with the club in the summer. It is questionable whether no club was interested in the Belgian or no longer wanted to play anywhere, but Hazard decided to end the misery.

“You have to listen to yourself and say stop at the right time. After 16 years and more than 700 games played, I have decided to end my career as a professional footballer. I was able to realise my dream, I played and had fun on many fields all over the world. During my career I have been lucky to have great managers, coaches and teammates – thank you all for these great times, I will miss you all.

I also want to thank the clubs I played for: LOSC, Chelsea and Real Madrid; and thank the RBFA for their Belgian selection. Special thanks to my family, friends, my advisors and people who have been close to me in good times and bad. Finally, a huge thank you to you, my fans, who have followed me all these years and for your encouragement everywhere I played. Now it’s time to enjoy my loved ones and have new experiences. See you off the pitch soon, my friends,” Hazard wrote on his Instagram.