4 reasons why Eden Hazard should join Real Madrid

#4 It could give him a better shot at the Ballon d’Or

Real Madrid have regularly produced Ballon d'Or winners, including Luka Modric

While individual awards clearly aren’t as important as helping a team to win silverware, there’s no denying that the Ballon d’Or is a pretty prestigious achievement that any top footballer would love to get their hands on.

And the fact is that – unfortunately for huge fans of the Premier League – history suggests that Hazard would have a better chance of receiving the award with a move to Real Madrid.

Why is that? Well, it obviously has a lot to do with the success of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but the fact is that players from La Liga – Real Madrid and Barcelona, basically – have bossed the Ballon d’Or since the turn of the century.

Of the 11 winners since 2000, 5 of them have played for Real Madrid – Luis Figo, Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.

The Premier League, meanwhile, has produced just 2 Ballon d’Or winners in the same time period – Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo. In fact, England’s top league doesn’t seem to be valued well in Ballon d’Or voting at all – only 6 Premier League players have ever been named in the top 3 since the turn of the century.

Whether that’s fair or not is a moot point – basically, if Hazard has his eyes on the ultimate individual prize, then a move to Real Madrid is far more likely to placate that than if he stays at Chelsea – particularly with Ronaldo and Messi getting no younger.