Barcelona scout explains decision not to move for Eden Hazard ahead of Chelsea – “Top quality, but…”
While Eden Hazard he had an incredible career, reaching the height of the game, he is simultaneously marked as the worst signing in the history of Real Madrid by some. Their most expensive until the arrival of Jude Bellingham, who cost 120.8 million euros from Chelsea, the now retired striker never managed to settle in the Spanish capital, facing recurring injuries.
His time at Chelsea is littered with stories from his teammates about his lack of commitment in training, for which he was usually given a free pass while slicing opposition defenses open in the Premier League .
It's an approach that was with him even when he was a teenager. Senior Barcelona scout Bojan Krkic, father of the striker who played for Barcelona in the late 2000s, told Cadena SER (via Sport) who did not order Barcelona to pursue him because of this.
“I met him at the U17 European Championship, where my son was playing. Belgium reached the final, but Spain won; Hazard played wonderfully throughout the tournament, except for the final. After that, he signed for Lille. I went to see him against Montpellier and in the warm-up one player was missing and Hazard came out in his overalls to warm up, he played well, but in As for dedication and attitude, I didn't like it.
Iñigo Martínez is on track to extend his Barcelona contract after playing 15 of 16 games this season. With a clause to renew automatically after 60% of the parties, it is well on its way. @jordicardero
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An attitude he saw repeated again.
“I went to see him three days later against Angers. He was on the bench, like the other starters. Everyone was warming up and he was walking. The physical trainer told him to lie down and he was watching the game. I put “discarded” in the report. These types of footballers, who are very good, showed me that they did not give results; both when they were my teammates and when I was a scout of Barca he was: top quality, technically and tactically; but because of the attitude and personality, with more details, I excluded him,” explained Krkic.
There are those who believe that if Hazard showed more dedication to the game, he might not have suffered from so many injury problems while at Real Madrid. Equally, if Barcelona signed Lille and Chelsea's version of Hazard, especially for the sums they made, then the Catalan giants would no doubt have been delighted to have him.
