EDEN HAZARD WAS unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday as around 50,000 supporters turned out to welcome the player they hope will launch a glorious new era under Zinedine Zidane.
The 28-year-old Hazard was presented with the home shirt, which was without a number, by club president Florentino Perez, moments after the Belgian had delivered a brief statement to his expectant fans.
“Hello everyone,” Hazard started in Spanish, to huge cheers, before continuing in French. “It was my dream since I was small to play for Real Madrid and now I am here.”
You are one of the best players in the world,” added Perez. “We know Real Madrid was where you wanted to be and now you’re here.”
Madrid confirmed the much-anticipated transfer of Hazard from Chelsea on Friday for an initial 100 million euros ($113 million), with another 45 million in potential add-ons.
The full amount would trump the 101 million euros Madrid paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale and the 91 million euros they spent to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.
Ronaldo attracted almost 80,000 for his presentation in 2009 and while the attendance for Hazard was not as large, this was still an impressive turnout.
Even three hours before, long queues snaked around the stadium while some supporters were seen running towards entrances they heard had suddenly been opened.
Inside, they roared as Hazard’s best goals were shown on a big screen and then again when he struck a penalty into an open net.
Hazard juggled with one ball in front of the cameras and then booted dozens of them into the stands, waving and applauding as he walked around the edge of the pitch.
Before he emerged, there had been chants of “We want Mbappe!” and a scattering of whistles for Perez, who has been tasked with rebuilding a Madrid squad that woefully underperformed last season.
Perez has admitted to being interested in Kylian Mbappe but the club’s transfers this summer already amount to around 300 million euros after the arrivals of Luka Jovic, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy.
There will surely have to be sales before the French striker could be prized from Paris Saint-Germain.
Without Mbappe, it will be Hazard, who scored 110 goals in seven seasons at Chelsea, who may be the star of Zidane’s renovated team, with the winger’s arrival bolstering an already-bloated list of attacking options.
Scrapping for the spots in support of Karim Benzema are currently Vinicius Junior, Bale, Isco, Brahim Diaz, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and even James Rodriguez, who has returned from a loan spell at Bayern Munich.
Hazard’s place is all-but guaranteed and he will be expected to at least help in plugging the gap left by Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus. They are big shoes to fill.
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Great player, he’ll be a wow there
Worst fans in the world after rangers and Chelsea fans
@Willy Motley: yes that’s right you picked some brilliant examples , between Rangers and Chelsea they share 1 Chanpions league. Real Madrid has 13 , 4 in the last 6 seasons … you say you hate but it’s just bitter jealousy . Don’t worry Madrid fans have lived with similar crap from supporters in the 50’s , 60’s , 70’s ,80’s ,90’s , noughties and this current decade . Yours is just another bitter drop in the ocean . Real will more trophies despite your best keyboard voodoo ..
@Limón Madrugada: what are you shiten on about at all??? All I said was that they have a lousy fan base , which they obviously do
@Willy Motley: Aren’t you a liverpool fan? The same club who’s fans behaviour got all english clubs banned from Europe for five years?
@Willy Motley: 30% of the Spanish population is lousy ? That’s bitter envy or at least pure ignorance on your part .
@Limón Madrugada: what other fans would boo legends such as Casillas, Raul and Ronaldo after all they did for the club.. worst fans in the world and that’s saying something.
@Stephen Bolger: you just don’t understand the mentality that most Spanish fans have . They boo guys that they expect to do better . Barca fans booed their team after the collapse against Liverpool and they waited till the following league game to do it . It doesn’t mean they hate them
€300m spent so far! No meeting about by Perez. Meanwhile Ed Woodward……
@Kieran Campbell:
Ed Woodward is clueless when it comes to transfers.
@Just Some Guy: I’ll not have a bad word said about Woodward, he is doing a fantastic job and long may he continue!
@Diarmuid Kelly: i bet you’re a liverpool fan probably
@Eoin Murphy: Jesus do you think eoin?!
The repetitive comments regarding Utd are bordering ridiculous tbh, some sense of reality is needed! The club has spent massive money on “superstars” and got it wrong for past few years, is not in the pinnacle competition of European football, not anywhere near challenging domestically. Do people want Utd to splash €300 million in one summer on more dodgy Woodward signings? Bit tough to attract genuine world class players to a struggling club atm, bit of time and patience to rebuild…..from a depressed Utd fan!!:(
Real Madrid really doing bits for this rebuild compared to man united!
Akways find it odd that irish people follow english teams ahead of real? I mean if you are going to pick a foreign team with no connection to you why not pick the best one?
@tubbsyf: lots of irish people can travel to england, many have relatives there, many live there or lived there, they can speak the language, back before it was the premier league it was many players from Britain and Ireland, etc.
@tubbsyf: Some people have or had relatives playing for the team they support.
Pathetic carry on from a shite club.
@Leo Erah: who? united ? Bit harsh
If all clubs were on even ground , academy driven and money wise the same , we would see a very different so called great team s who won champs lge etc . All this rubbish is the money men stretching their muscles , unfortunately it’s the world of football .