REAL MADRID manager Zinedine Zidane has backed under-fire star Eden Hazard to turn his career around at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Hazard has endured a torrid two-year spell marred by injury at Real ever since his £90million move from Chelsea.
The forward has only registered a mere four goals and seven assists in 40 appearances across all competitions.
It all got worse for the Belgium international on Wednesday after Los Blancos’ miserable Champions League elimination to Chelsea, who beat them 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The 30-year-old was caught having a laugh with former team-mate Kurt Zouma after the whistle and was derided by the club’s faithful as well as the Spanish press.
Hazard has since apologised for the incident but his position at Real is becoming increasingly untenable as Football Espana claim that he is “no longer an untouchable asset” for Zidane’s side.
The Spanish outlet also suggested that the Belgian could be sold in the summer in order to make way and raise funds for either Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland or Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.
However, Zidane hasn’t given up on Hazard yet and hinted that he still has a future at the club.
The Real boss said: “Eden Hazard has said sorry about [the Zouma incident] the other day. He did it well, it wasn’t his intention to hurt anyone.
“That’s the most important thing. Eden is a Real Madrid player and he’ll compete for Real Madrid.
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“He knows what he has to do on the pitch and he’ll do it. We spoke after the game the other day, to say that he would say sorry. That’s all.
“For me, for the club, for the players, that’s all. It happened and now we have to focus on football.
“So far we haven’t been able to see the Eden Hazard that people want to see.
“I think he will get through this. It’s a complicated moment, but he has a contract and he wants to succeed here. I hope that soon he’ll show what he is as a player.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
