When Eden Hazard arrived at Real Madrid , expectations were sky-high.
He was supposed to be the next Galactico, a player capable of defining an era at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Instead, his time in Spain turned into one of football's most unfortunate stories – a career derailed by relentless injuries.
At just 33, Hazard made the difficult decision to retire from professional football, a move that still feels premature given the level he once operated at.
His struggles at Real Madrid were well documented, but now, his international teammate Yannick Carrasco has offered a more personal insight into what really went wrong behind the scenes.
Speaking in a recent interview, Carrasco did not hesitate to explain Hazard's undeniable talent, insisting that ability was never the issue.
Instead, it was a cycle of injuries that simply refused to end.
Hazard's Real Madrid career was derailed by injuries. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
"Eden Hazard is the best footballer I've played with outside of Atleti. He didn't succeed at Real Madrid because of injuries.
"Sometimes you just can't control it. You say, 'How can it be that he's got injury after injury after injury?' and sometimes even you can't explain it,"said the Belgian.
Going further into the issue, Carrasco explained how one specific problem triggered a chain reaction that affected the rest of Hazard's body.
"He had an ankle problem that never got sorted out. You compensate for the pain and end up with a hamstring or quadriceps injury.
"You keep compensating, compensating, compensating, and he never managed to get out of that rut,"Carrasco concluded.
Hazard arrived at Real Madrid in 2019 for an extravagant fee of €100 million. However, during his four seasons, he could only play 76 matches, scoring seven goals.
Source: Mundo Deportivo
