Eden Hazard's match worn, hand signed Nike Mercurial Vapor 13 Elite

Player name: Eden Michael Hazard

Country: Belgium

Clubs: Tubize, Lille, Chelsea, Real Madrid

Position: Winger

DOB: 07/01/1991

Height: 5 ft 9 in

Eden Hazard is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Spanish club Real Madrid and captains the Belgium national team. Widely considered as one of the best players in the world, Hazard is known for his creativity, speed, acceleration, dribbling and passing. 

Hazard is the son of two former footballers and began his career in Belgium playing for local youth clubs. In 2005, he moved to France, where he began his senior career with Ligue 1 club Lille. Hazard spent two years in the club's academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. He went on to become an integral part of the Lille team under manager Rudi Garcia, making over 190 appearances. In his first full season as a starter, he won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, becoming the first non-French player to win the award. In the 2009–10 season, Hazard captured the award again, becoming the first player to win the award twice. He was also named to the Ligue 1 Team of the Year. In the 2010–11 season, he was a part of the Lille team that won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year, the youngest player to win the award.

Here at BC Boots UK we've managed to acquire a pair of Eden Hazard's match worn Nike Mercurial Vapor 13 Elite boots from the 2019-20 season, his first at Real Madrid. He has also hand signed each boot in black marker, making this pair even more special. With Hazard being easily in the top 10 players in the world, his match boots are like gold dust and are highly desirable to any collector... especially signed pairs.

On 7 June 2019, La Liga giants Real Madrid announced on their website that Hazard would be signing for them for the 2019–20 season. He signed a contract until 30 June 2024 for an initially reported fee of approximately €100 million, which may rise to nearly €150 million due to additional fees and will be earning around €450,000 per week. Hazard was formally unveiled in front of 50,000 fans on 13 June 2019 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Hazard became Real Madrid's most expensive player after Gareth Bale who was signed for €101 million in 2013. Should any of the variables be met, Hazard would then become Madrid's most expensive player in their history. Hazard was presented at the Bernabéu without a number on his jersey, just like Luka Jović a day earlier. Hazard had been wearing the number 10 jersey for both Chelsea and Belgium for a number of years, but admitted in his press conference that he had asked Luka Modrić for the jersey number at Real Madrid but Modrić refused to give it away. Nearly two months later, Real Madrid confirmed that Hazard will wear the legendary number 7 at Los Blancos, like club legends Cristiano Ronaldo, Raúl González and Emilio Butragueño

This stunning pair feature some small differences that set them apart from the retail pairs Nike sell on the commercial market. With them being a release model and colourway, players tend to give the new tech a chance before deciding to make any major modifications such as upper material etc.

In the heel area, Hazard's personal ID number has been written in, as is common with Nike player issued and worn pairs. Hazard's boots are made in Bosnia, one of Nike's 2 countries of player boot manufacturing (the other being Italy), due to him requiring no major modifications, however this pair are still made to his specifications, around a last of his feet. Eden's feet are incredibly small, with them being a UK6 / US7 however they are extremely wide.

The midfoot of Hazard's boots has been made quite a bit wider than standard retail pairs, to accommodate for his slightly odd foot shape. Retail model Mercurials have always been more commonly known to be one of the more narrowly fitting boots on the market.

Upon signing with Real Madrid, Hazard spoke to the media "I've dreamt about this since I was little, I always supported Real Madrid. Then I went to France and England and wearing this shirt now is a true honour." He also described Zinedine Zidane as a defining factor in his move to Real Madrid because he has always been an admirer of him. "Everyone knows that Zidane was my idol and now he's my coach, he's been an important factor. But I've always wanted to play for this club," Hazard said. When asked whether he thought he could become the best player on the planet at his new club, Hazard admitted that it is part of his aspirations, saying "I will try to be the best in the world, yes. But first, I want us to be the best team and winning titles. It's a new challenge for me and I'm prepared for it."

Nike have personalised each boot for Eden, with the right boot featuring "EDEN" and the Belgium flag to the outstep, whilst the left boot bares "HAZARD" to the outstep, again with the Belgium flag.

Above, a close up in game shot of Hazard's Nike Mercurial Vapor 13 Elite. Noticeably, he doesn't tie his laces up all the way to the top, but instead misses out the top 2 holes. This again displays how wide and bulky his feet are, without being any larger in length than a UK6 / US7.

Whilst a lot of pros opt for the SG or SG-Pro stud configuration on their boots, Hazard is one of few known to pretty much always wear FG, in both training and matches. It must be a winger thing, as the likes of Messi, Sterling and Neymar seem to also use the FG plates the majority of the time. 

In 2012, Hazard signed a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier, Nike. He appeared in an advert for the Nike Green Speed II alongside Mario Götze, Theo Walcott, Raheem Sterling, Christian Eriksen and Stephan El Shaarawy in November 2012. Hazard features on the cover of EA Sports' FIFA video game FIFA 15 in Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands and France, along with Lionel Messi. Hazard, Marco Reus, James Rodríguez and Anthony Martial were announced as the official ambassadors of the game and were the finalists to be the new face of FIFA 17. Hazard was named the new face of the franchise in 2019 – taking over from Cristiano Ronaldo – appearing as the cover star of the regular edition of FIFA 20.

During Hazard's club career, he has made a total of 562 appearances, scoring 161 goals and making 150 assists, and counting. Due to a stuttering season at the hands of injuries, we are yet to see if Eden has the potential at Real Madrid to get close to filling the gap that CR7 left behind when he moved to Juventus. The hierarchy at Real clearly believe that he can reach those heights, by them giving him the number 7 shirt and breaking their transfer record to sign him.