"I let myself be carried away" - Eden Hazard explains why he arrived overweight at Real Madrid after joining from Chelsea
Eden Hazard recently admitted that he enjoyed his vacation a lot before joining Real Madrid from Chelsea and that was why he arrived at Santiago Bernabeu overweight.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Hazard revealed that he knew it was probably the last time he would enjoy a vacation as he was moving to Real Madrid. However, he could not get back to full fitness in time for the season and things went downhill from there. He said:
"Arriving overweight in Madrid? With Chelsea I had just finished one of the best seasons of my career. I said to myself: 'Now that I'm at Real, these are perhaps the last vacations in which I will be able to enjoy.'"
Hazard added:
"I let myself be carried away as I leave myself every summer. Seven years in England, without rest at Christmas, giving everything, so that when I have three or four weeks of vacation 'don't bother me' - barbecues, rosé wine... all that. And that's what allowed me to restart and start over. Then in Madrid, things went wrong, and that's it."
Eden Hazard had a tough time at Real Madrid and only managed to play 76 matches in his four seasons at the club. He scored seven goals but won eight trophies during his time at Santiago Bernabeu.
Eden Hazard admitted his Real Madrid issues were down to being overweight
Eden Hazard explained how his weight caused a lot of issues at Real Madrid. He said he failed to lose weight after the vacation in time.
He said during an interview with L'Equipe:
"It's true. I'm not going to hide it. When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation. I had put on five kilos, but I'm the type of person who can lose it quickly if I'm careful. When I was 18 at Lille, I was 72 or 73 kilograms. My muscle mass was 75kg, on a bad day 77kg. I was 80kg this summer, but I lost it in 10 days."
Hazard added:
"I was not good enough. I told myself to start playing well. The first couple of months I reminded myself that I'm new and had to play simple. There were too many passes and people were waiting for me to dribble."
Eden Hazard had his Real Madrid contract terminated last season after they reached a mutual agreement. The Belgian had another season left on his deal at the Spanish club, but has now retired from football.