Exclusive: Eden Hazard intends to stay at Real Madrid until contract expires in

Eden Hazard intends to stay at Real Madrid until the end of his contract in June 2024, The Athletic can exclusively reveal.

The Belgian arranged a meeting with his staff in Madrid in February to review his situation, although it was not clear a decision would be made there.

But Hazard and his team reached a consensus weeks ago and the 32-year-old wants to stay at Madrid for a variety of professional and personal reasons.

Hazard is under contract at Madrid and has a right to stay, having signed for five seasons when he joined from Chelsea in 2019 and became the club’s record signing. He is also the highest-paid player in the Madrid squad and has no intention of giving up his salary.

Madrid agreed to pay Chelsea €100million (£88.3m, $107.6m) for the forward, but the deal included further add-ons worth up to a reported €160m. While not all of these add-ons have been triggered, the cost has surpassed the €101m fee the club spent on previous record signing Gareth Bale.

Hazard, who retired from Belgium duty after 126 appearances for his country following their World Cup group-stage exit, is also prioritising his personal happiness. His family are well-settled in Madrid and that is the forward’s primary concern. One of Hazard’s sons, Leo, even joined Real Madrid’s youth academy in the last month, as seen on the Madrid Football Federation (RFFM) website.

The forward is not negotiating with any other teams and has not received any formal offers from other clubs.

The only obstacle to Hazard staying at Madrid could be a lack of harmony with the club. Real have been looking for a way out for their record signing since the summer of 2021, which has upset Hazard.

In the dressing room, Hazard’s team-mates value his good humour but believe he is no longer able to compete as expected. That is an opinion also held by the coaching staff, although they understand the Belgian’s frustration given he is not playing.

According to Opta, Hazard has played just 36.7 per cent of Madrid games in all competitions (73 out of 199) he has been available for and has started in just 21.6 per cent of them (43 out of 199) since he joined from Chelsea.

A series of injuries and two separate operations have meant Hazard has missed 500 days of action with Madrid, according to the website Transfermarkt, compared to just 198 days out during seven seasons with Chelsea. But he has also suffered from head coach Carlo Ancelotti lacking confidence in him since the…