Former Chelsea star Fernando Torres has said that he believes that Eden Hazard can become the best footballer in the world at Real Madrid. The Belgian international ended his seven-year association with the Blues this summer by putting pen to paper and signing for Los Blancos. He is expected to serve as a key player for Zinedine Zidane’s side next season with many tipping him as the direct replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo who left the club during the summer of 2018.
“[Madrid] have got the brand where every player in the world wants to play there, and when they call the players see it as a club where you can make history,” Torres told AS.
“Hazard is a spectacular footballer who needs the boost from a club like Real Madrid to reach the level he can reach, which he did at Chelsea in a fleeting manner.
“It remains to be seen if he’s able to push himself to want to be better. His ability and the conditions are perfect.
“Sometimes it seemed he struggled to want to be better when I saw him training, it was clear he could be at the level of the best. Now he’s got the stage on which to do it. It’ll depend more on his mentality than his football.”
Hazard will be hoping to challenge for the Ballon d’Or and Champions League at Madrid
Nobody can deny that Hazard was a good servant to Chelsea over the years. He has arguably been the most important player for the West Londoners since the departures of club legends John Terry and Frank Lampard. During his time with Chelsea, Hazard helped the club to win two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup and two Europa League titles. Surprisingly he won the Premier League Player of the Season just once which came during the 2014/15 campaign. The two things which have eluded Hazard are the Champions League title and the Ballon d’Or award. Chelsea do not look like they will win Europe’s Premier Club competition anytime soon so one cannot really fault him for leaving at this point especially as he is now at the peak of his powers. While Hazard has always been regarded as one of the best playmakers in the World, he has never really manage to threaten the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the coveted Ballon d’Or award.
Hopefully, the curse of Madrid does not strike Hazard
He has the makings to succeed at the Santiago Bernabeu but one can only hope that he adapts successfully to the style of player used at the club, unlike Kaka, who moved to Madrid in 2009 when he was regarded as one of the world’s best and failed to adapt. Thibaut Courtois who left Chelsea to join Madrid last summer has also so far failed to adapt to life there.
