Roberto Martinez Uncertain Over Hazard Fitness

Eden Hazard has been included in Belgium’s Euro 2020 squad, but how large a part he will play still remains to be seen. Roberto Martinez, Belgium manager, admits that he is not sure when Hazard will be 100% ready to play again.

“The objective for Eden is to be on the field. It was a psychological step. It didn’t matter the amount of minutes,” Martinez revealed after the Croatia friendly, where Hazard played the final 10 minutes.

“Now he will need to have more minutes. The next step will be in training. He needs to move forward, without any risks, and recover his best form.

Martinez was then questioned further on Hazard’s fitness levels, asked when the Real Madrid player could complete a full 90 minutes. “It’s difficult to say when he will be ready, it depends on a lot of things. What is important, is that he is now medically OK. He just lacks minutes, not quality. I see Eden Hazard as happy, with a smile on his face, and that makes the difference,” Martinez concluded.

Given his fitness issues, Hazard may have to settle for a “super-sub” role at the European Championships. Real Madrid will be hoping the player can stay fit over the course of the tournament and slowly rediscover his best form. Given Hazard’s large contract, it would be very difficult for Real Madrid to offload the Belgium and thus they will be hoping to re-discover the player who was once worthy of a Galactico salary.