Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has cast doubt on Eden Hazard’s role in replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo netted a club record 450 goals for Los Blancos across 438 appearances and was not replaced directly by the club following his €100m move to Juventus in the summer of 2018.
Hazard joined Madrid from Chelsea this summer in a landmark €100m deal, with the expectation that he would become the new attacking star at the club.
However, the Belgian international has struggled in his early months at the club, initially over a lack of fitness and then failing to hit the ground running.
Hazard did score his first goal for Madrid in Saturday’s 4-2 victory over Granada but has looked inconspicuous at times as part of a front three along with Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
“He will be an answer but not in replacing Ronaldo, that is certain,” Wenger told beIN Sports, as cited by Marca, when quizzed about Madrid’s signing of Hazard.
“He will not score 50 goals a year…they (Madrid) need another goal scorer in because Benzema is now a 32-year-old and if they had someone younger around him to score the goals, maybe they could do very well.
“Eden Hazard is an exceptional player to create chances to sometimes finish when he needs to do in big games. He's not scared of anybody – I don't think Madrid have yet to see the real Hazard, he's not as sharp physically as he can be.
“That's why I believe they will discover the real Hazard.”
