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'They're not on their way up' - Hazard joined Real Madrid at the wrong time, suggests
'They're not on their way up' - Hazard joined Real Madrid at the wrong time, suggests Ferdinand
The Belgium international made his first start for his new team on Wednesday but the Blancos were easily dispatched in a 3-0 defeat at PSG
Rio Ferdinand has said he is concerned that Eden Hazard may have joined a Real Madrid side on the decline.
Hazard made his first start for the Blancos on Wednesday, but it hardly went according to plan as the Spanish side were soundly beaten 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain.
Angel di Maria scored a pair of goals as PSG took an early lead in Group A of the Champions League.
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Hazard joined Madrid this summer in a €100 million (£88m/$112m) move from Chelsea, but his pre-season preparations were cut short by a thigh injury.
The Belgian only made his first Real Madrid appearance at the weekend, as he came on for the final 30 minutes of his side's 3-2 win at home to Levante in La Liga on Saturday.
But after a first start that fell short of expectations, former Manchester United star Ferdinand wondered about the timing of Hazard's move to Spain.
"When you go to a new club, especially the size of Real Madrid, you have to earn the right to be the man who gets all the ball," Ferdinand said on BT Sport.
"He's got to do something in the training games, in the actual games that he plays.
"I'm fearful for him that he's gone there at the wrong time.
"This is a team that's ageing, they're not on their way up, they've not got much spark about them at the moment. That is going to affect him and reflect badly on him in the long term."
After winning the Champions League three times in a row, Madrid's run ended last season with a stunning 5-3 aggregate defeat to Ajax in the last 16.
The Blancos struggled badly in La Liga as well last term, finishing in third place and 19 points behind league champions Barcelona.
After watching Hazard's full debut, Peter Crouch also expressed skepticism that the Belgian could be the same player at the Bernabeu that he was at Chelsea.
"Hazard at Chelsea was one of the top five players in the world but watching him tonight he didn't look it," Crouch said.
"At Chelsea he was the main man and everyone was giving him the ball from everywhere. He won't get that at Madrid until he earns it."
