By Daily Sports on August 10, 2019

Eden Hazard will take on the No. 7 shirt in his first season at Real Madrid, the club announced on Friday.

The Belgian wore the No. 50 in the pre-season, but will now take on the number that Cristiano Ronaldo wore during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Mariano Diaz wore the No. 7 last season in Madrid’s first campaign after Ronaldo’s move to Juventus, but the striker has now switched to the No. 24 to give Hazard the famous shirt

Hazard completed a move from Chelsea to Real Madrid this summer in a deal worth €100 million (£88m/$112m).

The 28-year-old wore the No. 10 shirt at Chelsea but with that number occupied by Luka Modric, he has opted for the shirt that Ronaldo, Raul, Emilio Butragueno and others have worn at Madrid.

James Rodriguez, who used to wear the No. 10 shirt before his two-season loan to Bayern Munich, has returned to Madrid and has been given the No. 16 for the 2019-20 season.

Among Madrid’s other summer transfer arrivals, Eder Militao will wear No. 3, Ferland Mendy will take No. 23, Luka Jovic will wear No. 18 and Rodrygo the No. 27.

Gareth Bale, whose future is up in the air after manager Zinedine Zidane publicly wished for his departure, has again been given the No. 11.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who wore the No. 25 in his first season with the club, has switched to the No. 13 that he wore during his time at Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid will face Roma in a friendly on Sunday before opening La Liga play next weekend with a game against Celta Vigo.

The Blancos are hoping for a much-improved campaign in 2019-20 after a season that saw them knocked out of the Champions League by Ajax in the last 16 and finish 19 points back of champions Barcelona in La Liga.

Hazard was a major part of the summer rebuild, and the Belgian got off the mark in a friendly against Salzburg earlier this week.

“I’d been waiting for this moment for the last five games and it’s happened today. I’m very pleased,” Hazard said after the game. (BBC)

•Photo shows Eden Hazard

Source Daily Sports

Posted August 10, 2019

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