Ancelotti impressed by Real Madrid flop’s commitment and attitude

Real Madrid are gearing themselves up for season restart, with the Spanish champions set to resume their La Liga campaign against Real Valladolid at the end of the month.

Thanks to early eliminations, Real Madrid have already had the fortune of having some of the star players back from the FIFA World Cup. One of them is Eden Hazard, who has been widely branded as a failure since his big-money move to Santiago Bernabeu in 2019.

In three and a half years, Hazard has featured in 72 competitive matches for Real Madrid, scoring only seven goals. It is certainly not enough for a player who cost the Whites a fee of around €115 million.

His struggles at the Bernabeu have seen him fall behind the likes of Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, and Marco Asensio in the pecking order. As such, he has yet to even feature in 100 minutes of league football.

However, according to AS (h/t Madrid Xtra), Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has been left impressed by Hazard’s commitment and attitude since his return from the World Cup.

The forward has shown a lot of enthusiasm and wants to carve out a place for himself in Ancelotti’s first-team plans.

Hazard made headlines recently by announcing his retirement from international football, shortly after Belgium’s exit from the World Cup.

The forward indeed had a dismal World Cup as the Red Devils, regarded as one of the dark horses of the tournament, were knocked out in the group stages.

It remains to be seen whether Ancelotti’s impression of Hazard will alter his role in the Real Madrid first team. But it is very much possible that the Belgian could be allowed to move on in January, should Los Blancos receive a reasonable offer for the attacker.