Let’s get one thing straight first, Eden Hazard is a phenomenal footballer.
He was named in the Premier League Team of the Year four times during his seven seasons with Chelsea and it was borderline scandalous that he wasn’t included in 2018/19.
A league winner in three different countries and one of the very best dribblers of the modern era, the Belgian’s natural talent is undisputed.
With that being said, the 15% of Dream Team Euros gaffers who have selected Hazard seriously need to think twice.
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On the surface, the 30-year-old looks like a great option.
At £4.0m he’s considerably cheaper than Kevin De Bruyne (£6.0m) and Belgium were blessed with a favourable draw in Group B alongside Denmark, Finland and Russia – three fixtures that look ripe for points.
Hazard was one of the best players on display at the last major international tournament but the player who dazzled us in Russia three years ago is unrecognisable from the one we’ve seen in a Real Madrid shirt of late.
Injuries have severely blighted the 30-year-old’s dream transfer to the extent he played just 533 minutes of league football in 2020/21.
On the rare occasions he has graced the Bernabeu turf, he’s looked low on confidence and desperately lacking match sharpness.
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Hazard has scored just five goals since joining Los Blancos two years ago and therefore heads into Euro 2020 without any sort of form at all.
It would be foolish to write-off a player of such ability but the evidence at hand suggests he is in no position to take this summer’s tournament by storm.
It’s possible that the comfort of Roberto Martinez and his Belgian team-mates may accelerate his physical and psychological recuperation but picking Hazard from the get-go seems like a needless roll of the dice for Dream Team Euros bosses.
15% may not sound like a significant ownership but it makes Hazard the sixth-most popular midfielder at the time of writing.
With 20 transfers available once the tournament is underway, doesn’t it make sense to wait for glimpse of the Belgian captain’s condition before including him in your midfield?