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It's official, Eden Hazard is now a Real Madrid player after the Spanish club announced his signing on a five-year deal, with the deal reported to be worth about €100m plus variables.
This transfer was probably the worst kept secret of the window, as everybody, from Hazard to his teammates had all but confirmed his departure from Chelsea, and it was always a matter of WHEN and not IF Eden Hazard would become a Real Madrid player.
Having previously stated that it would be a dream to represent Los Blancos, the 28-year-old finally has the chance to fulfill his destiny, with his unveiling set for July 1, 2019.
There are sure to not be many bigger deals than this during this window, and the football world would probably not be the same again following this gargantuan move.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting the six biggest losers from Eden Hazard's transfer to Real Madrid.
#1 Chelsea Football Club
When Eden Hazard joined Chelsea in the summer of 2012 aged just 21, he arrived as one of the burgeoning talents in Europe having starred for five seasons in the French Ligue 1 with Lille LOSC.
Since then, the Belgium international has gone on to cement his status as one of the best players in the world and can genuinely lay claim to being among the greatest to ever don the blue of Chelsea.
In seven seasons at Stamford Bridge, the 28-year-old starred, bailing the side out on numerous occasions and helping the club to win multiple trophies.
His time in West London yielded a total of six major trophies including two Premier League trophies and two Europa League titles and you would be hard pressed to find any player who contributed more than him to each of those triumphs.
On an individual level, his class also shone and he won numerous personal accolades including the PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, Premier League Playmaker award, PFA Fan's Player of the Year as well as being voted into the FIFPRO XI but to name a few which underlined just how brilliant he was with Chelsea.
In total, he appeared 352 times for The Blues, scoring 110 goals to sit ninth on the club's all-time scorer's chart, while he also showed his creative side with 81 assists in total.
This means that the former Lille man was directly involved in a staggering 191 goals in all competitions for Chelsea since his debut in the 2012/2013 season, which is 94 more than anyone else managed in the same time frame.
Even if he was not scoring or assisting, Hazard's presence on the field meant he was always a threat to opposition defenders, while his constant and direct running often drew defenders to him, leaving spaces in behind for his teammates to exploit.
With his departure, Chelsea have lost a bonafide world-class player and one of the very best forwards in the world and with him goes all the assists and goals he provides.
It might be argued that they got a good deal by getting such a high amount for a player with just one year left on his contract, but Hazard's performance levels as well as the club's impending transfer ban means that they might not quite be able to get another player who operates on their former number 10's level.
#2 Vinicius Jr
During the course of the 2017/2018 season, a certain Vinicius Jr emerged as the latest budding prodigy from that never-ending supply chain of football talent called Brazil.
He had caught the eye with his displays for Flamengo and Real Madrid rushed to secure his services in May 2017 for €46m despite the then-16-year-old having only made his professional debut 10 days earlier.
Vinicius Jr originally struggled to break into the starting lineup at his new club, as erstwhile manager Julen Lopetegui did not show enough faith in him, demoting him to the junior teams. But, his stock improved upon the appointments of Santiago Solari and Zinedine Zidane.
In a season marked by turmoil and player disappointments on the pitch, the 18-year-old was one of a few shining lights within the Real Madrid ranks, winning admirers for his tireless running and enthusiasm even though his final decision making left a lot to be desired.
Given his young age, it was believed that he would only get better and the coming season was the one where it was expected that he would fully gel into the team and begin to fulfill his undoubted potential.
However, the arrival of Eden Hazard puts his progress under serious threat, as the Belgian skipper operates on the same position on the field as him - out wide on the left and seeing as there can only be space for one, it is a no-brainer that the more experienced and established of the two would be chosen.
This would significantly reduce his playing time which is far from what he would have expected from his second season and could potentially hamper his development.
An alternative would be a tactical switch from Zizou to deploy Vinicius on the right side of attack to complement Hazard, but this would not be playing to his best strengths which comes when he runs at defenders and cuts in on his right foot.
#3 Maurizio Sarri / potential replacement
Maurizio Sarri was announced as Chelsea manager in the summer of 2018 having won plenty admirers for his work in Italy with Napoli, and despite facing criticisms from sections of the fans and press for his supposed tactical predictability and one-dimensional style of play, the 60-year-old still ended the season decently, making it to the final of the League Cup, as well as finishing in the top four and winning the Europa League.
However, despite this, reports have emerged that Sarri has asked the club to relieve him off his duties, having agreed terms with Italian giants Juventus to take over from the departed Max Allegri.
Beyond their managerial conundrum, Chelsea face further issues off the field, with a ban by FIFA meaning they cannot sign or register new players for two transfer windows.
The club has filed an appeal to the decision, but the ban would stand pending the outcome of the appeal which is not an ideal situation for any manager.
The current Chelsea squad is not exactly the strongest it has been in years, as multiple players are either past their prime or massively underperforming, but this was masked effectively by Hazard's performance last season, with the 28-year-old being directly involved in 50% of Chelsea's goals in the Premier League in 2018/2019.
If Sarri does leave, his replacement would not have the luxury of going to the market to mold the team in his image and the presence of a genuine game changer like Hazard could have helped lessen the impact of the blow, but the loss of his services undoubtedly makes the job of whoever would be Chelsea's manager next season much harder.
#4 Barcelona
While Real Madrid might have dominated Europe in recent years, domestic bragging rights undoubtedly belong to Barcelona.
Los Blancos triumphed in four of the last six Champions Leagues, but their league form has been truly atrocious, winning just two La Liga titles in the last decade, while their arch rivals have triumphed on seven occasions and added six Copa del Rey trophies (including four consecutive) to boot in the same period.
It is in line with this that Zinedine Zidane stated that capturing La Liga next season is the club's priority and on evidence of their transfer dealings this summer, the Frenchman can be confident in his side's ability.
So far in this window, Real Madrid have spent a total of £229.5m to bring in four players, with Luka Jovic, Rodrygo Goes and Eder Militao all completing moves to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Eden Hazard's arrival is however the icing on the cake and given his extremely world-class abilities, Zinedine Zidane would be confident that his team can go toe-to-toe with Barcelona in their quest for league glory.
#5 Neymar
Neymar was the subject of a controversial transfer battle between Real Madrid and Barcelona having starred in his native Brazil with Santos.
The Brazilian international finally chose Barcelona in acrimonious circumstances (with accusations of fraud and corruption in the transfer still debated till this day), but Perez still maintained a wish to being the 27-year-old to Real Madrid.
Neymar left Spain for PSG in the summer of 2017 for a world record fee ostensibly to steer clear of Messi's shadow and lay a marker to be considered the best player in the world.
However, it is safe to say his spell in Paris has not exactly worked according to plans as recurring injuries have robbed him off the chance to carry PSG in the latter stages of the Champions League.
Over the last few years, a familiar debate among fans has been who is a worthy heir to Messi and Ronaldo's throne and two names which have been mentioned more than others are those of Neymar and Hazard, with both men's playing style and similar position causing further basis for comparison.
The duo also found themselves on Real Madrid's radar, as the club saw one of them to be the ideal replacement for Ronaldo at the Bernabeu.
It is every player's dream to don the famous all white of Real Madrid, and both men have stated of their desire to represent the club ether explicitly or tacitly.
Some few years back, Neymar clearly had the edge over his Belgian counterpart, but his no-show in recent years,particularly in the last World Cup where a Hazard-inspired Belgium eliminated Brazil at the quarterfinal stage has swung the pendulum back in Hazard;s favor.
There was always going to be space for only one of the two men at Real Madrid, and with Hazard's signing, the possibility of Neymar ever representing Real Madrid is probably nil.
#6 Marco Asensio / Mariano Diaz
It seems such a long time ago that Marco Asensio was rated as a £100m+ player having starred with stunning goals in Real Madrid's Spanish Super Cup humbling of Barcelona just two seasons ago - that is how quickly things can change in football.
Having suffered a lack of playing time due to Ronaldo's stay at Real Madrid, Marco Asensio was expected to blossom in the wake of the Portuguese icon's departure to Juventus last summer.
However, that failed to happen, as the Spain international struggled woefully for form, scoring just six goals in 44 appearances in all competitions and was one of the players most responsible for Real Madrid's disastrous season.
The 23-year-old has seen his stock drop from untouchable to dispensable and this position is not helped by the arrival of Eden Hazard.
For his part, Mariano Diaz was brought in in the wake of Ronaldo's departure and was surprisingly handed the hallowed number 7 jersey.
The Brazilian however failed to do anything significant, but performed slightly better than the aforementioned Asensio, scoring nine goals from 33 matches in all competitions.
Neither Marco Asensio nor Mariano Diaz were guaranteed starters heading into next season, but they would have been looking to battle it out with Vinicius Jr and Gareth Bale (if he remains) for a spot on the wings but the arrival of Hazard has pushed them further down the pecking order and it is unlikely that the duo would remain at the club next season.
