Despite costing Real Madrid a whopping €100 million (R1.6 billion), Eden Hazard will not fill the gap left by Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Arsene Wenger.
After enduring a difficult start to life in Madrid following his big-money move from Chelsea, the Belgium international scored his first goal for the club last weekend and Wenger has now backed him to excel with the LaLiga giants.
The former Arsenal boss shared his view that Los Blancos made the right decision to splash the cash on the 28-year-old, but added that people should not expect him to replace Ronaldo's goalscoring contributions at the club.
Earn Airtime Data With Soccer Laduma's Social Media App - Download Now
"He will be the answer but not in replacing Ronaldo, that is for sure," Wenger told beIN SPORTS.
"He will not score 50 goals a year because that's now how they (Real) play football.
"They need another goalscorer at Real Madrid because (Karim) Benzema is now 32 and if they had someone younger around him to score the goals, maybe they could do very well.
"Eden Hazard is an exceptional player to create chances, to sometimes finish when he needs to in the big games.
"He's not scared of anybody – I don't think Real have yet to see the real Hazard, he's not as sharp physically as he can be. That's why I believe they will discover the real Hazard."
Hazard's move to Real saw him become the 10th most expensive player of all time – you can see the full top 10 by scrolling through the gallery below.:
