Only the ordinary is true! Eden Hazard and De Gea had no balls to play and Ramos fell to his roots

Hazard's (former) career prospects are uncertain. (Infographic) Issue

The new European league season has already begun, and the summer transfer window has officially closed this week, but several big stars have not been out of work for various reasons, with Belgian winger Eden Hazard and Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea, both well-known figures, facing retirement this summer.

In today's European football, the younger players are the trend, and more and more young players are gradually provoking the club, while those big names who have already achieved fame are no longer as popular as before.

Refusal of six contracts What does Hazard want to do

Although Eden Hazard is only 32 years old, his football career is almost over, and after the early termination of his contract with Real Madrid, he had many opportunities to join other teams, but he turned them down one by one.

Although Eden Hazard is Belgian, he made his debut from Ligue 1 side Lille. In the 2007-2008 season, the young Eden Hazard officially played in Ligue 1, which shocked the whole European football scene. In the years that followed, Eden Hazard not only helped Lille win Ligue 1, but also made the lesser-known side stand out in the Champions League.

Such young talents will definitely receive special attention from the giants. In 2012, Eden Hazard joined Chelsea for a transfer fee of £32 million, setting a Premier League transfer fee record that year. Hazard spent the next seven years at his best, helping Chelsea win two Premier League titles and two Europa League titles, contributing 110 goals and 92 assists.

Chelsea is not the ultimate stage. In the summer of 2019, Hazard joined Real Madrid for a staggering €160 million transfer fee, with an annual salary of €15 million. However, when he came to the Bernabeu, he seemed to have changed as a person, could no longer find his bravery at Stamford Bridge, and at the same time was riddled with injuries and began to mess around with Real Madrid.

In his four years with Real Madrid, Eden Hazard has played a total of 76 games, scoring seven goals and providing 12 assists. Not only is he constantly injured, but he is also not disciplined in his diet, and he has eaten himself into a fat man, basically unable to meet the physical conditions of a professional player. By this summer, Real Madrid, already having had enough to bear it, decided to terminate his contract early, and Eden Hazard became a free agent.

It stands to reason that at only 32 years old, he should immediately start looking for his next home, otherwise his career will be wasted. At the same time, other teams valued his aura on the wing, with as many as six clubs throwing olive branches at him, including Riyadh Victory and Internacional Miami. But Hazard completely ignored the opportunity to be teammates with Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, refused all invitations, but said that he was still very young and could fight again.

Now, Hazard spends his high salary at Real Madrid, lives in a villa in Madrid, raises five sons, and is not lonely. As for whether to retire from the game, he is still inconclusive.

Not satisfied De Gea missed his last chance

De Gea, another big star who became a free agent, is even more desperate than Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard also received six job offers, while De Gea had little choice, Bayern had wanted to sign him, and the Saudi team contacted him, but he rejected them one by one, and that was because the annual salary was too low.

De Gea, who is the same age as Eden Hazard, actually has an advantage, because a goalkeeper has a much longer golden period than a winger, he is still a good fighter, and there are no injuries, although he was abandoned by his old club Manchester United, but there is no problem with changing the owner as the main team.

De Gea's youth was largely dedicated to Manchester United. He debuted at Atletico Madrid and joined United in 2011 for a transfer fee of £18.9 million, the second-most expensive goalkeeper after Gianluigi Buffon.

When David De Gea arrived at Old Trafford, United had already begun to move away from glory and go downhill. However, De Gea has been accompanying the "Red Devils" and helping the team gradually get out of the trough with his performances. For 12 years, Manchester United have remained in their tradition and have not changed their main goalkeeper, and De Gea has gradually become the oldest player in the squad from a young player. He has experienced the tail of the Ferguson era, witnessed the sad departure of managers such as Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer and others, and waited for the arrival of new manager Ten Hag.

In Ten Hag's tactical system, De Gea's personal skills are no longer enough to meet the manager's needs, so after De Gea's contract expired this summer, Manchester United pushed him along the tide and did not renew his contract, recruiting Inter goalkeeper Onana, who shone in the Champions League last season.

This is a great stimulus for De Gea. However, he has a high self-esteem, but he is unwilling to lower his stature, thinking that he is still one of the world's top "door gods".

Due to Sommer's departure and Neuer's injuries, Bayern, who lacked a good goalkeeper, quickly contacted De Gea, and if he did a good job, this could well be another turning point in De Gea's career, and it is completely possible to usher in glory again. But De Gea unexpectedly refused, for no other reason: the 20 million euros offered by Bayern was too low for him.

Then another Saudi club was willing to sign him for an annual salary of 10 million euros. However, how could De Gea, who rejected Bayern, agree to a Saudi team's contract?

After the two teams hit a wall, no team ever looked for De Gea again. There are only two reasons: small teams cannot afford an annual salary of more than 20 million euros, and large teams do not value his technical content.

In this way, De Gea was left to the side, also faced with no ball to kick.

Leave the past behind Ramos is home

Eden Hazard and David De Gea have been unemployed for various reasons, but Ramos, another famous star in Europe, has found a new job after his contract expires. He returned to his debut parent team, Sevilla, and although it was full of hardships, his football dream continued.

As free agents were not affected by the closing of the summer transfer window, Ramos signed with Sevilla on September 4 and once again put on the red and white shirt, and in 1996, when he was only 10 years old, he walked through the doors of Sevilla's youth academy for the first time.

Ramos began playing in La Liga in 2003 and was quickly favoured by Real Madrid, and in 2005 he moved to the Bernabeu, setting a record for the highest transfer of a Spanish player at the time. As a central defender, Ramos has made Real Madrid's strongest backline, and he has been the main contributor to the team's multiple La Liga and Champions League titles, and he has also lifted 24 trophies with his teammates.

In 2021, Ramos' contract expired after 16 years at Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain got him for free. After playing in Paris for two years, there were internal structural problems in the team he played for, first Di Maria and other players left, and then this year Messi and Neymar also bid farewell to Paris, and Ramos parted ways with the club at the end of his contract as an older player.

Unlike Eden Hazard and De Gea, Ramos, 38, has long since reached the age to retire and this summer is undoubtedly the perfect time. However, Ramos has no intention of retiring, but continues to actively look for the next home, hoping to play until the age of 40. However, the vast majority of European clubs could not afford to sign older players, Ramos' re-employment was not smooth, only the Saudi League and the American Professional League had the intention to sign him, but he rejected them one by one.

The summer transfer window closed on 1 September and Ramos remains unsettled. Fortunately, Sevilla decided to sign him for a year and gave him priority to renew the contract for the second year.

This made Ramos very happy, but also a little uneasy. Because he forged a bond with his parent team fans. In 2005, he left despite the fans' retention, and in 2017 against Sevilla, he scored another penalty with an almost playful gesture and made an exaggerated celebratory gesture to a handful of extreme fans in the stands, causing chaos for a while.

Therefore, after this successful reemployment, Ramos' first reaction was to apologize, saying: "I have made some mistakes in the past. I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise and ask for their forgiveness to any Sevilla fans who feel offended. ”

According to local media reports, Ramos gave up a high salary in order to return. The veteran not only apologized but also cut his salary for the continuation of his football dream, and his figure has been put to the lowest point, which shows his love and sincerity for football. Should Eden Hazard and De Gea learn from the "old man of football"?