Eden Hazard’s stay at Real Madrid has been a nightmare. John Obi Mikel says that he was shocked by the Belgian’s attitudes when they were both at Chelsea.
In a longer interview with The Athletic opens Mikel up about his former teammate.
– I have always said that one of the players who had everything and who was most gifted – speed, technique, skills and strength – is Hazard. He was just behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But it was only if he wanted it himself, says Mikel.
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Hazard came to Chelsea from Lille in 2012 and took the Premier League by storm. For a number of years he was one of the league’s best players. Still, Mikel believes that Hazard could have been even better – if he had only bothered.
– He himself said it a couple of times too, that if he wanted to be as good as the two, then he could. “Not as good as Messi, because he’s from another planet, but I think I can get closer or better than Ronaldo,” he told us.
Not dedicated
The duo played together at Chelsea from 2012 until Mikel left the club in favor of Chinese Tianjin in 2017.
– But he is not dedicated to football. He does not train well. He’s the worst player I’ve ever played in the training ground. Because he was so good, no one said anything about his training habits. He could play on Saturday and be our best and be named “man of the match”, says Mikel.
– Then he could come on Monday and Tuesday and just walk around and do nothing, says the Nigerian, who today plays for Stoke.
– He just walked around, while the rest of us had regular training. But on the field you could see how good he really was.
The damage
Hazard’s career has faltered since he left Chelsea in the summer of 2019. Real Madrid pocketed around 1 billion kroner, but the investment has failed completely.
The dribble fan has had frequent injury breaks and stands with a staggering four goals in 36 games for the Lily Whites. Hazard has long since lost more settlements in Spain due to injuries than he did in seven years at Chelsea.
Muscle trouble has kept Hazard out of action in recent weeks. He will probably be back by the middle of the month at the earliest.
(© NTB)
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