Bringing Eden Hazard back to Chelsea might sound like a happy ever after story, but it could well turn out to be a nightmare ending.
It was reported yesterday by Marca that Real Madrid had put the Belgian up for sale, just two years after his £130m (Sky Sports) to the Bernabeu.
Hazard has endured a horrible time with Los Blancos after leaving Chelsea.
Repeated injuries have limited him to a mere 43 appearances for Madrid, scoring just five goals across that period.
He hasn’t started successive league games since January; his last full 90 minutes arrived in November 2019.
It has been a horror show, which could take an even darker turn if the 30-year-old is sold by his Spanish employers.
Garden of Eden
Understandably, many Chelsea fans might see this as a glorious opportunity to be reunited with Hazard.
They think his wounds can be healed and his powers restored if he comes back to Stamford Bridge.
There is something about the blue shirt that will give him strength that he could not muster for Madrid.
As poetic as this sounds, unfortunately, reality must take center stage here.
We are no longer witnessing the Hazard who won Chelsea’s Player of the Year award four times, nor the magician who dazzled the Premier League for over half a decade.
This isn’t the player who grabbed two assists on his Blues debut and was dubbed ‘quality’ by Frank Lampard afterward.
What we are looking at is a skeleton of a man who has been beaten and bruised in his new surroundings.
Nobody can guarantee that Hazard would stay fit if he returned to South West London.
Even if he did, can we really expect him to have the same zip and pizazz as before?
Plus, Thomas Tuchel has plenty of creative assets on his doorstep already to worry about.
Signing Hazard would quash the opportunities for someone like Christian Pulisic or Callum Hudson-Odoi, both of who could be the embodiment of Chelsea’s future.
Everybody wants to save you, Eden, but that ship is far away from port now.