Although Edin Hazard is suffering for minutes played on the pitch under Carlo Ancelotti this season, Spanish journalist Antonio Romero thinks the former Chelsea star would have left Real Madrid if it were not for the Italian coach.

Ancelotti returned to the Bernabeu this summer, signing a three-year contract with the La Liga giants. Real Madrid signed the former coach of Milan, PSG and Everton after Massimiliano Allegri rejected their offer by returning to the management of Juventus.

Hazard is not a regular starter under Ancelotti, where he has played just 856 minutes in his 19 appearances this season.

However, Spanish journalist Antonio Romero believes it was the Italian coach who did everything he could to keep the former Chelsea star on the team, who has failed to prove himself since being transferred for 115 million euros from Stamford Bridge to Madrid in summer of 2019.

“If there was one coach who tried to bring Hazard and Marcelo back, it was Ancelotti,” .

“With another coach, Hazard could already be in Belgium and Marcelo would not play a minute. Ancelotti knows very well their dedication and form. He has tried to bring Hazard back, he has succeeded with Marcelo and Isco, but if Jose Mourinho were in Madrid now, these three players would have already left.” Ancelotti is well on his way to winning his first La Liga title this season, where he leads by six points more than second-placed Sevilla.