Real Madrid present Eden Hazard: Presentation of new signing at Bernabeu after £89m transfer from Chelsea
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Your support makes all the difference.Real Madrid presented Eden Hazard at the Bernabeu as 50,000 welcomed him to the Spanish capital.
Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival in 2009 drew around 70,000 supporters to the stadium, but Madrid pushed that close with Hazard's arrival, as the first statement signing the club have made for some time.
Hazard completed his transfer from Chelsea this week for an initial fee of £89m, which could rise to as much as £150m with add-ons. He joins Luka Jovic among several new arrivals as Madrid look to revitalise the team under returning manager Zinedine Zidane.
What time is the presentation?
Eden Hazard is set to be presented between 6-7pm BST.
It is estimated that 50,000 supporters came out to see Eden Hazard tonight. That's not as many as the 70,000 who came to see Cristiano Ronaldo, but it's still mightily impressive for what was essentially a small Belgian man doing 12 keepy-uppies.
We are still waiting for the man himself to arrive for the press conference.
Hazard speaks: "I supported Real Madrid as a child. I played in France and England, but it's a journey I took to be here."
Asked about his mum... "It is amazing for my family of course. My mum was perhaps more emotional than me but like I've said before, I just can't wait for the season to start."
On the manager, and his favourite position: "Zidane was my idol, I looked up to him. He's Real Madrid manager, and it was important he was here, but not the most important factor because I've always wanted to be here. I like playing No10, or maybe on the left, but it is not up to me where I play."
Asked if he's the star now, and if he will take responsibility for things like penalties. "I don't think there's one star at Real Madrid. It's a team of star players. I was at Chelsea for seven years, now I am the new boy. As for penalties, I think the captain takes a really good penalty, and I don't think he'll ask me to take them. I think he'll keep taking penalties and he'll keep scoring, no doubt."
Eden Hazard swats away the suggestion that he is making this move late in his career, saying he still wants to improve. On previous contact, he says: "After the World Cup there was contact but I stayed at Chelsea for another season. I think it was a good decision, we won the Europa League, it was a good campaign personally, and I just think it was the right time to join Real Madrid."
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