DAMIEN DUFF took aim at Real Madrid star Eden Hazard on Tuesday night – for turning up to training ‘fat’.
The Irishman’s remarkable tirade against his fellow former Chelsea winger came after the Blues’ 1-1 Champions League draw with Los Blancos.
Hazard came off the bench in the semi-final first leg but failed to make an impact after a long spell out injured.
And the Belgian’s poor form since joining the LaLiga giants for an initial £88million left Duff worried because he sees Hazard as not ‘a top pro’.
The 42-year-old told RTE: “You’d worry for him going forward.
“He’s 30, he relies on sharpness, being a quick dribbler. We all know after 30 it’s… like that (points downward).
“He’s never been a top pro and he’s never had the drive of [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. If he did, you’d probably be mentioning him with them two players.
“He turned up for his first pre-season at Real Madrid – Galactico, 160 million [euros] – overweight. Fat. Call it what you want.
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“You’d worry for him, because he’s had 11 injuries and to come back from 11 injuries – and he’s hardly played in two years – you need to have drive, you need to be a top pro.
“I hate aiming it at a player, but it’s always been aimed at him anyway.”
Hazard, 30, admitted in November 2019 that he arrived at Real overweight – but insisted he found it easy trimming the pounds.
He said: “I’m not going to hide it, but when I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation.
“I had put on five kilos, I’m the type to put on quickly and lose so quickly if I’m careful. When I was 18, in Lille, I was 72 or 73kg. I was 80kg this summer, I lost it in 10 days.”
However, two-time Premier League winner Duff felt that Hazard, who has also won the league twice, has no excuses given how he started his Madrid career.
To be signed by Madrid, you turn up to pre-season in the shape of your life. And he turned up overweight because he was on holiday.
Damien Duff
He added: “You could argue that throughout his career, he’s always battled with his weight.
“To be signed by Real Madrid, 160 million, you turn up to pre-season in the shape of your life.
“And he turned up overweight because he was on holiday. I ain’t having that.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
