EDEN HAZARD has claimed that dieting doesn’t work and that he was sometimes too lazy to move during Real Madrid training.
The Belgian star joined the club from Chelsea for an initial £88.3million in 2019.
But he never showed his best form in Spain, playing 76 times and scoring just seven goals in four seasons.
Hazard’s time at the Santiago Bernabeu was plagued by injuries and fitness issues.
There were reports that his weight was a problem and he once turned up to training after the summer a stone too heavy.
On his Real Madrid troubles, Hazard told L’Equipe: “With Chelsea, I’d just finished one of the best seasons of my career.
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“I said to myself, ‘now that I’m at Real Madrid, this is perhaps the last vacation I’ll be able to take.’
“I let go of myself like I let go of myself every summer.
“Seven years in England, without a break at Christmas, giving everything, so when I have three or four weeks of vacation, don’t bother me, barbecues, rose wine and all that.
“That’s what allowed me to reset myself to start again. Then, Real, it went wrong and that’s it.
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“They say I was a slacker. But I haven’t spent 16 years as a professional without training.
“It’s true that some mornings I arrived without sleeping well, not feeling like it, no desire, and when it’s like that I show it.
“Don’t give me the ball. I’m making a square metre and I’m not moving. I don’t move.”
On his weight, Hazard said: “I wasn’t watching what I ate but I didn’t go for a burger every day either. You can’t do that for 16 years. I didn’t think it was important.
“I’m a hedonist, I like to eat and drink with my friends. Dieting is bull***t, it doesn’t work.
“If you want to play until you’re 40, then okay, but I knew I wouldn’t be like that. I always have some champagne in my fridge.”
Hazard admits training more intensely could have helped his time in the Spanish capital, saying: “I would’ve liked to do things my way and succeed.
“It shows that Real Madrid is bigger than anything else. It’s complicated to play there.
“Maybe I needed to train more. I also had the worst injuries at the worst times.”
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Hazard retired from football at the age of 32 back in October.
He has now weighed in on the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate – and sensationally claimed he is better than one of them.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
