With Eden Hazard expected to be out for the remainder of the season after picking up another injury, the focus has shifted to his availability for the upcoming European Championship. Roberto Martinez, the man who will lead Belgium in Euro 2020, opened up about this issue, making a worrying admission about the fitness of his captain.
To say the former Chelsea sensation has undergone a torrid time since arriving at the Bernabeu would be an understatement. Los Blancos' marquee signing, who has endured an injury-plagued career in Madrid so far, made his return last week but this was short-lived as he only lasted 15 minutes before picking up another knock, his eight major setback since joining the Spanish giants.
With 2020/21 being over for Hazard, the winger will return to the treatment table in a bid to make Euro 2020. However, Roberto Martinez admitted that it would not be smart to bet on their captain recovering for the summer competition.
"Rather than setting a timeline all that matters is to measure every day and to see that Eden is on the right path to get back to full fitness," Martinez said, as per the Daily Mail.
"It would be wrong and gambling by anyone to try to imagine if Eden is going to be fully fit or not.
"I feel his situation can be solved a lot earlier than the Euros but only when Eden goes from day to day, we will see the final answer."
Fortunately, it wasn't all doom and gloom from the manager as the Belgium NT gaffer offered optimism regarding the player. Reports claimed that after becoming dejecting with his injury issues, the player was keen on undergoing surgery but the club blocked this.
Los Blancos are not keen on their star attacker undergoing the knife and confirmed this shortly afterwards as surgery would have kept him on the sidelines longer than usual. Despite this, Martinez was adamant that Hazard is as positive as ever and determined to work his way back onto the pitch.
"He has a clear focus of getting himself fit as quickly as he can and it is our responsibility to support him so he can achieve that," the Spanish tactician added.
"Knowing Eden and what we are dealing with is a player that has never been injured in his career and this is a real shock and something new.
"There is a lot of uncertainty around that.
"But in terms of the injury, I feel very positive that we can get to see the best Eden Hazard well before the Euros."
