Former Chelsea player manager Gianluca Vialli has warned Eden Hazard that he faces being dropped from the team next season under incoming boss Antonio Conte.
The 25-year-old endured a below-par 2015-2016 campaign by his usual high standards, and failed to make any real impact for Belgium during their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Conte’s Italy side in their Euro 2016 Group E opener on Monday night.
Vialli watched the game as a pundit for BBC Sport and reacted to Hazard’s first showing in front of Conte since he was announced as his future manager, and Vialli warned the stand-in Belgium captain that his place in the starting XI at Stamford Bridge will be at risk unless there are drastic improvements.
“With Conte going to Chelsea next year, if he doesn’t run he [Hazard] will be out,” Vialli said. “So he will have to do much more.”
Against the Azzurri, Hazard remained on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes, creating three chances and completing 80% of his attempted take-ons.
However, as the leader of the side in the absence of Vincent Kompany, much rested on the attacker’s shoulders – with Belgium widely tipped as one of the favourites for the tournament.
Marc Wilmots’ side were outperformed by an efficient Italy side though, and now sit bottom of the group after the first round of fixtures.
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