Eden Hazard Reveals If He Was Signed by Real Madrid to Replace Cristiano Ronaldo

There have been some fantastic players who have played for Real Madrid, some signed at the top of their game. However, some did not reach the heights that were expected, with one of those being forward Eden Hazard.

The Belgian signed for Los Blancos from Chelsea in 2019, reportedly for a record $117 million (€101 million) at the time. However, despite his incredible years in England and in France, he struggled in the Spanish capital.

Injuries did not help, affecting his form. However, he did manage two La Liga titles and a Champions League winners' medal. Unfortunately, after four seasons, he retired from football at the age of just 33. In a recent interview on Julien Cazarre's RMC show (h/t Mundo Deportivo), he spoke about that part of his career and whether he was signed to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Hazard Not Signed to Replace Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus after the 2017-18 season. Just a season later, Los Blancos signed Eden Hazard from Chelsea, another forward who played on the left side of the attack.

A player who could change the game in a moment, and had a high number of goals and assists. Deespite many fans believing he was tbne replacment for the leading goal scorer in club history, Hazrad revealed otherwise.

"I didn't come here to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored a lot of goals every game; sometimes I didn't even get one. I came here to be Eden Hazard and enjoy myself."
Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard had an injury plagued Real Madrid stint — IMAGO / Pressinphoto

Hazard also revealed that his dream was always to play for Real Madrid. Even before he finally signed in 2019, he was looking at a potential move.

"Signing for Real Madrid was my dream. I wanted to leave even before my last season at Chelsea. I had said I would stay, but if Real Madrid came looking for me, I would go."

During his time at Chelsea, he was one of the top players in the world. He was named in the Team of the Year four times, and won the PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Player's Player of the Year, and PFA Fans' Player of the Year during his time in England.

That had other clubs interested, including Paris Saint-Germain, who had plenty of financial backing. However, Hazard was never interested, due to his time with Lille before moving to Chelsea.

"Every year I had contact with PSG. I was very clear about it. When I left Lille, I told myself: 'I don't want to return to France to any other club than Lille. If I ever go back, it will be to play for Lille and finish my career, for example.' For the people of Lille, for the north, I didn't want to go and play for PSG. It was a big club. Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi) would come, there was a lot of money, there was always a team to play in the Champions League. Since things were going so well at Chelsea, my dream afterward was to go to Real Madrid, not PSG."
Eden Hazard