How Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid dream turned sour

[ASFN Admin]

It was decided Eden Hazard would see one of the finest NBA surgeons in America when he needed his ankle operation this year, given his movement on the pitch is similar to basketball players. The Belgium forward went up and down the pitch for seven seasons at Chelsea, dictating attacks like a “shooting guard” and withstanding impact on his body like a Chicago Bull or Detroit Piston. His schedule was as busy as an NBA player too, averaging more than 50 games a season while playing in the Premier League and needing an operation in 2017 on the ankle that troubled him during his first season at Real Madrid, following his £130million move for the start of last season. The question now is whether Hazard will return to the form seen at Chelsea, or has playing almost 700 games in his career so far taken its toll? Hazard will be absent from the Belgium team facing England this weekend at Den Dreef in Leuven for the UEFA Nations League clash, after testing positive for Covid-19 just before the international break. It was the latest setback in a frustrating 18 months since arriving at the Bernabéu. He has already missed more games for Real than in his entire time at Chelsea. Despite his ankle surgery three years ago, fitness was not a major issue during his seven seasons at Stamford Bridge. He was fit more often than not, never dipping under 43 matches per campaign.

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