On Saturday, Eden Hazard came off the bench against Elche and played the final 15 minutes, a welcome return after a six-week absence. Monday came depressingly familiar news: He is likely to be out for another six weeks, this time after straining his psoas muscle, which controls the lifting of the upper leg. Hazard joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 for an initial fee of $124 million. Since then, he has played from start to finish in just four matches for the club, all last season.
For at least three years before he left Chelsea, the sense was that Hazard needed to move if he were really to be fulfilled.