Eden Hazard could be one of the best footballers to have ever played the game, but the Belgian stars lack of focus means he may never fulfil his true potential.
Thats according to Tony Cascarino, who says at his best Hazard is an all-time great, but concedes we havent seen that side of him since he left Chelsea.
Hazards big-money move to the Bernabeu last summer hasnt exactly gone to the plan for the former Chelsea star
Belgium take on England in their latest Nations League clash on Sunday, but Hazard will not get the chance to impress as a positive COVID-19 test means he is self-isolating and will miss out.
Casc says the forward be a huge miss for the Red Devils, even though he hasn’t been anywhere near the peak of his powers for well over a year, and hopes to see Hazard back to his best soon.
The 29-year-old became one of the most expensive players in football history when he left Chelsea last summer to complete a dream move to Real Madrid.
But his Bernabeu dream has turned sour since his £142million transfer [160m], with Hazard missing more games in one year in Spain than he did in his entire career at Stamford Bridge.
Hazard has been sidelined with SEVEN different injuries since joining the Real Madrid, including a fractured foot that saw him miss 17 matches from December to January earlier this year.
He has looked a shadow of the player who tormented Premier League defences and helped Chelsea to six major titles in seven years having only just recently scored his second-ever goal in a Los Blancos shirt.
Hazard recently ended a run of 392 days without scoring for Real Madrid
It was a belter to be fair, but overall he has struggled for form, fitness and has faced frequent questions over his weight, despite still being crowned a LaLiga champion in his first season in Spain.
Cascarino says its a huge shame to see how the forwards career has gone since his big move.
He isnt surprised, though, saying he had the tendency to switch off throughout his spell with the Blues, and he believes thats what is costing him now.
Eden Hazard is an incredibly gifted player, but hes had a really difficult time since he went to Real Madrid for that huge fee, the former Chelsea striker said on the Weekend Sports Breakfast.
Injuries and obviously the coronavirus pandemic hasnt helped him, its affected his career, but what a talent he can be for Belgium.
He went to Real Madrid to become the best player in the world, he even mentioned that, he talked about that when he joined Madrid, but what a difficult time hes had since hes joined. Its been really hard on him. Hes found it tough.
Obviously injuries have played a huge part in it, he went to Real Madrid and apparently was a tad overweight, he lost his confidence, but he seems to recovered his fitness of late.
Tony Cascarino criticises Eden Hazard for downing tools at Real Madrid
Belgium miss him. I can remember his performance against Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup, it was him and Neymar both out on the right and Hazard outplayed Neymar all night. He was just superb.
I really miss seeing Hazard being Hazard, because he is a great player when hes on.
He has done this a couple of times, he has switched off in his career and Chelsea fans will tell you. There were a couple of times where he just switched off at Chelsea.
But when he switches on hes up there with the best players who have ever played the game.
We just havent seen Hazard at a best for a long time.