Former Chelsea winger Damien Duff has criticised Eden Hazard’s attitude since he moved to Real Madrid in 2019, saying that he can never be compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo because ‘he’s never been a top pro’.
The strong words come off the back of Hazard’s substitute appearance in Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday night, which was just his 16th appearance for Los Blancos this season.
Duff, who spent three seasons at Chelsea and won two Premier League titles with the club, believes that Hazard has always struggled with his weight, and should’ve put in more effort to stay in shape following his £130million move to Real Madrid.
Hazard was the Premier League Player of the Season in 2014-15 amongst a hugely successful seven years at Chelsea,
But he’s only played 38 times in all competitions in the last two seasons for Real, scoring just four times, which sums up his constant battle with injuries.
‘You’d worry for him going forward,’ Duff told RTE.
‘He’s 30, he relies on sharpness, being a quick dribbler. We all know after 30 it’s downhill.
‘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, €160million – overweight. Fat. Call it what you want.
‘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.
‘You could argue that throughout his career, he’s always battled with his weight.
‘To be signed by Real Madrid, €160million, 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. I hate aiming it at a player, but it’s always been aimed at him anyway.’
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