Zinedine Zidane’s return to Santiago Bernabeu in the latter half of the previous season was accomplished after the Frenchman’s demands of signing new players and non-interference in the management of the squad were met.
Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez was left helpless after an abysmal show by Los Blancos under two managers in the previous season. Without further thought, he went back to the winning formula by getting Zidane on board once again before it was all too late.
Given the dipping form of an ageing squad, Zidane resorted the Galactico era back to Real. He signed Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo and the most important of them all – Eden Hazard.
The ex-Chelsea stalwart has been linked to Real Madrid for long, with the messianic manager heaping words of praise for the Belgian forward. “After Cristiano and Messi, Eden is the player I like the best. It’s spectacular seeing him play”, a gleeful Zidane mentioned to the media back in 2015. With the admiration from unarguably the greatest midfielder of a generation, Hazard’s move to Real was all but due.
Although the plan to sign Hazard was put into motion back in 2017, Chelsea demanded a larger compensation than expected. Unfortunately, the signing was stalled and the focus shifted back on getting the best out of Isco and Casemiro. But after the egress of their herculean forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real were left with a huge void to fill.
Los Blancos’ arrogance was the crux of their downfall in the 2018-19 season. Failing to sign any credible replacement for Ronaldo after his departure to Juventus became their biggest mistake in recent history which Zidane rectified in the summer transfer window of 2019.
Hazard’s primary weapon is his dribbling skills. The Belgian was ranked third in Europe’s top five leagues for dribbles last season and with the ball at his feet, there are only a few who could match up with his pace.
His pairing with Vinicius Jr. will be lethal as the duo can give life to Real’s attack which seemed rather ineffective in this past season. His relationship with Real’s No. 9 Karim Benzema was evident in the pre-season where the Belgian made a lot of attempts to provide assists and moved further up the pitch with an intent to score.
The Belgian arrived in Madrid on the back of a successful season with Chelsea, netting 21 goals and providing 17 assists across all competitions. Zidane will be looking to change the shape of Real’s formation with Hazard coming in on the left side and Real’s new signing Luka Jovic playing as the striker.
Real have signed one of the most prolific dribblers of modern football and if he can keep up his form from the last season, his goal involvement will be nothing short of spectacular. A deal that cost Los Merengues €100 million made fans happy as they witnessed their team deploying a similar plot that they were once known for – signing Galacticos.
Zidane’s biggest signing till date is a statement that has echoed across the European continent which dares the other big clubs to tread lightly when they face the full wrath of the Los Blancos this season.
Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Martin Bureau
