Will Hazard be forced to leave if Madrid sign Mbappe and Haaland?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 16 Oct 2021 12:05 BST
• 7 min read

As ever, Real Madrid remain at the forefront of numerous transfer sagas as we approach the January transfer window.

The club have been heavily linked with just about every top player in Europe’s biggest leagues, but just two seem to stand out as genuine transfer targets for the Spanish side.

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Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has quite openly spoken of his desire to leave the French club and is all but confirmed to be joining Madrid when his contract in France comes to an end.

Similarly, the Spanish giants seem to be at the front of the queue when it comes to signing Borussia Dortmund sar Erling Haaland next summer, who could be available for as little as €90 million.

So what happens to Eden Hazard if either or indeed both of these star forwards arrive at Madrid in the summer?

Can he turn his poor form around?

The biggest factor in deciding Hazard’s fate at Madrid is whether or not he’s producing the goods on the pitch. And so far the Belgium international simply isn’t doing that.

Even after taking into account his unfortunate injuries, Hazard has still only managed five goals and nine assists in 51 games for Madrid since joining the club in 2019 for a remarkable fee of €115 million.

Unfortunately, despite regaining much of his fitness in the summer, Hazard has still struggled to look like the player he once was and has started just five of Madrid’s first 10 games of the season and offered a solitary assist in return.

Unless Hazard can quickly turn it around and become a pivotal part of Carlo Ancelotti’s side, he may find himself on the transfer list in the summer.

Will he play alongside Haaland and Mbappe?

Even if Hazard can regain some form, it’s still quite difficult to imagine how he would fit into next season’s starting XI alongside Mbappe and Haaland.

Assuming both players do join in the summer, it’s far more likely that Karim Benzema will be tasked with being the third prong in Madrid’s attack, rather than Hazard or indeed the even more inconsistent Gareth Bale.

Whichever way you look at it, Hazard’s days in the Spanish capital are truly numbered if the club are serious about signing both attacking stars.