“I achieved my dream”: A look back at Eden Hazard’s career – Video Eden Hazard
- The Belgian is ending his injury-plagued time at Real Madrid
- The winger won six trophies and much praise at Chelsea
Eden Hazard insisted he was living his dream after announcing his retirement from football at the age of 32. The Belgian ended a career that was characterized by outstanding skill and an impressive haul of trophies, but which was ultimately ruined by injuries.
Hazard rarely featured for Real Madrid as he joined the Spanish giants from Chelsea for £88.5 million in June 2019 and made a total of 76 appearances in his four years at the Bernabéu, playing just 90 minutes in six of them didn’t play once after December 2021. It was a situation that the winger accepted and could no longer continue.
“You have to listen to yourself and say stop at the right time,” Hazard wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. “After 16 years and more than 700 games played, I have decided to end my career as a professional footballer. I was able to make my dream come true, I played and had fun on many courses around the world. Thank you everyone for this great time, I will miss you all.”
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Born in La Louvière, Hazard rose to fame in France with Lille, where a series of captivating and decisive performances made a move to one of Europe’s leading clubs increasingly inevitable. In the summer of 2012, Real, Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal were said to be keen to sign the 21-year-old, but after the victory over Bayern Munich, he finally decided to move to another suitor, Chelsea This year’s champions League final was a deciding factor.
“Chelsea have the best project,” Hazard said after completing his £32million move to Stamford Bridge. “The team is young and I have a better chance of playing there. If I play well enough at Chelsea I could secure a place in the starting eleven. When they won the Champions League I said to myself: ‘Why not Chelsea?'”
Things started well for Hazard in west London – he provided an assist on his Premier League debut against Wigan and scored himself a goal against Newcastle shortly afterwards. But there were some early setbacks, most notably the red card he was shown at Swansea in January 2013 for kicking a teenage ball boy in frustration.
Eden Hazard celebrates his goal for Chelsea against Arsenal in the 2019 Europa League final. It would be the Belgian’s last appearance for the west London club. Photo: Phil Noble/Portal
Hazard overcame his stunning loss of cool in South Wales and established himself as one of Chelsea’s best players over the next six years. Creative, quick, hard-working and ruthless – Hazard had it all and was crucial to the team’s success during this period, most notably winning two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues, an FA Cup and a League Cup. He was also named PFA Player of the Year in 2015.
In the summer of 2019, with Chelsea in another period of transition, it was inevitable that Hazard would move again. This time, however, there was only one club he would ever join, with Real determined to make the then 28-year-old their star ahead of the new season, and essentially Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-term successor following his move to Juventus the previous year .
It seemed like a perfect fit, but things never really got going for Hazard in Madrid. In total, he suffered 18 individual injuries during his time in the Spanish capital. However, he still managed to contribute to winning six trophies, including two La Liga titles and one Champions League title. With Lille he also won a Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France in the same season.
However, it is what he did at Chelsea, where he played 352 games and scored 110 goals, and at Belgium, where he played 126 games and scored 33 goals and captained his country at the last World Cup in Qatar. that Hazard will be best remembered. He was quite simply one of the most talented players of his generation.
“Special thanks go to my family, my friends, my advisors and the people who have been close to me in good times and bad,” Hazard added in his Instagram statement. “Finally, a big thank you to you, my fans, who have followed me all these years and for your encouragement wherever I have played. Now it’s time to enjoy my loved ones and have new experiences. See you soon from the field, my friends.”
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