After several years of unsatisfactory experiences Eden Hazard and Mariano Diaz leave Real Madrid to find a new direction in their respective careers. Coming from different backgrounds and with different expectations at Real Madrid, they ended up in the same category of players who unfortunately did not have any significant in the team’s successes, which have been quite a lot since their arrival. However, they arguably still have several years left in their careers and may try to become key men in other teams.
HAZARD’ DEPARTURE
The spell of Eden Hazard at Real Madrid has been quite a nightmare for the club, the fans and the player himself. Between attempts to find the best form, injuries of all kinds, promises and periods of reflection, nothing ever came up for good. It was like the old Hazard had gone somewhere and he was substituted by a bad copy. His place at the wings or wherever he was to be positioned on the green pitch, started to be filled by others very quickly and as the time progressed it became difficult to provide him a place in the starting eleven in order for him to slowly get back on his form.
In fact, Hazard’s entire four-season spell in La Liga doesn’t even produce numbers that match his final pre-Madrid season at Chelsea: 2,529 minutes played to 2,926, four goals to 16, seven assists to 15, 90 opponents dribbled past to 137. In his first season in Madrid, he managed to get in a great shape after a difficult summer where he was seen overweight and very unfit, but that great shape did not last more than 3-4 games. It was an unfortunate injury which saw his Belgium teammate Meunier engage in a bad tackle after mistiming his challenge. Seemingly not a really hard tackle, it was enough to put an end to his game and to start a challenging ordeal of ankle problems, from which the most expensive signing of Real Madrid ever, was never able to fully overcome.
Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde all became preferred options under Carlo Ancelotti and the dribbling demon that the Premier League witnessed during his spell in England with Chelsea’s blue shirt, was very rarely seen in Spain with the white shirt of Real Madrid. With ongoing fitness problems and still time left to go in his career, Hazard and Real Madrid decided to part ways even why there was still one year left in the contract. The Royal Club made an official announcement about his on June 3, one day prior to the last game of the season. The Belgian was part of the squad vs Athletic Club, but he was not used, spending the whole 90-minute encounter on the bench.
The official announcement expressed the following: “Real Madrid Football Club and Eden Hazard have reached an agreement whereby the player will leave the club as of 30 June 2023. Eden Hazard has been part of our club for four seasons, during which time he has won 8 titles: 1 European Cup, 1 Club World Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 2 LaLiga titles, 1 Copa del Rey and 2 Spanish Super Cups. Real Madrid would like to express our affection to Eden Hazard and we wish him and his family the best of luck for the next stage of his career”.
On June 18, Eden Hazard was paid a tribute to by the Belgian FA. The fans at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels made him feel at home and after an emotional moment, the player spoke to local television and gave some insight into his recent past and what the future holds for him: “Honestly, I don’t know yet [about the future]. After these three difficult years, I just want to spend time with my family, and go on holiday like everyone else. It’s true that in the last few days, I’ve read a lot about myself, and a lot of nonsense. I know I’m not giving you the answers you’re hoping for but I honestly don’t have them yet. Having said that, I’m still capable of being a professional footballer, my body can take it. I’ve been resting for two or three years, I still have energy,” he said.
MARIANO’S DEPARTURE
Real Madrid announced the departure of Mariano Diaz, who as expected, left the club on a free transfer at the end of the 2022-2023 season. The Dominican Republic international joined Madrid as a youngster seven years ago, but left for Olympique Lyonnais in 2017. He made 34 appearances for Lyon in 2017/18, scoring 18 goals and giving four assists. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, a summer calculated to shift towards bringing new talents and not replacing the Portuguese star together with the great performances of Mariano in Lyon were enough for Madrid to rethink about him.
He was brought back after this impressive season, but his tenure at Real Madrid went really far from what they expected or planned. Until the end of 2022-23, his fifth season after rejoining, he scored a grand total of seven goals, none of them in the last year. Actually, his last season was concluded with only 155 minutes of playtime in all competitions, making everything about his upcoming departure more than clear. He does have an El Clasico goal to his name, however, when he came on for Karim Benzema in the last minute in 2019/20, scoring one goal in the remaining one minute.
His injuries during his time and his lack of minutes especially in the last season have meant that he was never near of becoming a key player in Carlo Ancelotti's squad unfortunately. Even when there were almost no other alternatives for the attack in difficult moments, he was not seen as solution. As a result, Los Blancos announced on Saturday, June 3, that the Dominican striker was set to leave. The 29-year-old played a total of six seasons in a Madrid shirt and five years as an academy player. The striker will now have to find a new destination in the next transfer window.
"Real Madrid would like to express our gratitude and affection to Mariano, who was with our youth academy from 2011 to 2016 and in the first team for six seasons, during which time he won 13 titles: 2 European Cups, 3 Club World Cups, 2 European Super Cups, 3 Leagues, 1 King's Cup and 2 Spanish Super Cups. Real Madrid wishes him and all his family the best of luck for the future," Madrid wrote in a statement.
On the other hand, Mariano also announced his departure and expressed his gratitude via the social media: “I never imagined that that child from Premià, that child who spent the day playing football in the square with Bubu, Barry, Alaji, Edu or Xavi, would end up living this dream. It wasn't an easy road. First La Fábrica, then the dream of the first team, the Lyon experience and back. Like to throw in the towel, my dad didn't instill that in me. ‘Never give up, fight for your dreams, nothing is impossible’. Fight even if in the game of your life you have to leave in the 91st minute. You never know when the reward will come”.
“I keep in my memory some nice words from Raúl in the days of my return. It was the start of five seasons, a lot of hard moments, and some really good ones. I didn't enjoy the minutes I would have liked, but I tried to put my soul into every ball, smash my face for this team. I know some of my decisions were misunderstood. Surely someday I'll be able to explain myself, but not now, now is the time to look forward. I want to start a new phase, with all the ambition in the world. It has been an honor to play with these fellows and for this fan. I will be eternally grateful to everyone: workers, staff, physicists, utensils, doctors, cleanliness, security. To all. I fulfilled a dream and I didn't give up. That 10-year-old Mariano would be so proud of today”.
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