Eden Hazard poised for Chelsea return and will link up with former team-mates | Football | Sport

Eden Hazard is poised to make a triumphant return to Chelsea nearly three years after he apologised for his underwhelming stint at Real Madrid. The 34-year-old, who hung up his boots in October 2023, will once again step onto the Stamford Bridge pitch on Saturday when Chelsea Legends face off against Liverpool FC Legends.

All proceeds from the match will be donated to the Chelsea FC Foundation and the Chelsea Players’ Trust, with Hazard set to reunite with former colleagues such as John Terry, Petr Cech, Diego Costa, Ramires and John Mikel Obi.

Other Blues legends like Gianfranco Zola, Claude Makelele, Marcel Desailly and many more will also make their way back to west London for the match. It was at Chelsea where Hazard carved out a reputation as one of the finest players of his era during a seven-year spell filled with silverware with the Premier League titans.

Hazard’s final appearance as a Chelsea player was memorable as he hoisted the Europa League trophy in 2019 following the Blues’ 4-1 triumph over Arsenal in the final. Just a week later, his £100million transfer to Madrid was confirmed by the Spanish heavyweights.

Despite the hype surrounding the arrival of one of the world’s top players at the time, Hazard never found his stride in Spain, with persistent injuries and fitness issues hindering his impact.

During his four-year stint with Madrid, Hazard only managed to make a paltry 76 appearances and scored just seven goals. Both parties were keen to part ways, leading to Madrid and Hazard mutually agreeing to terminate his contract in June 2023 – a year before it was set to expire.

Throughout his three years in Spain’s capital, he vowed to demonstrate his abilities on the pitch but also expressed regret to the club’s fans for his underwhelming performance since joining.

In an interview with Marca, Hazard admitted: “I have one more year and I have to show [what I can do] but it isn’t easy. I’m not playing, I want to play more. I’m really sorry about what has happened.”

When asked to rate his performance since becoming Madrid’s latest Galactico, Hazard didn’t mince words as he confessed: “[I’d give myself] a zero in terms of playing, because I haven’t played. But a 10 in terms of how I feel in this moment with the team. I’m not playing, but being a Real Madrid player was my dream as a kid. I want to play for this club.”

Seven months post his departure from Madrid, Hazard opened up about the immense pressure that comes with representing the club and bemoaned his unfortunate run with injuries. Speaking to L’Equipe, the Belgian star said: “I’ve been a Zinedine Zidane fan since I was a child. The Bernabeu, the white kit… it has a charm that others don’t have.

“Real Madrid is special. Beyond that, I don’t think that I fit in. It’s not like me. It’s a bit of a ‘swaggering’ club, and I’m not like that. I also didn’t like the way we played if you compare it to other clubs. But, it was my dream. I couldn’t finish my career without coming here.

“I would’ve liked to do things my way and succeed. It shows that Real Madrid is bigger than anything else. It’s complicated to play there. Maybe I needed to train more. I also had the worst injuries at the worst times.

“The operation, the plate… I’m coming back, [and] it hurts, I’m sore. In the second season, Ancelotti arrives. I had good preparation, I play well, but my body, the pain, the injuries..”