Real Madrid did not have a spectacular 2018/19 campaign after selling their GOAT talisman Ronaldo to Italian club Juventus. By Real Madrid’s standards, their season was downright catastrophic, finishing third in La Liga and exiting the Champions League in the round of 16. This is a team that had won the previous three Champions League competitions.
To remedy this supposed trainwreck of a season, Madrid went on a spending spree this summer. Belgian attacker Eden Hazard was the centerpiece of the club’s dealings, coming over from Premier League club Chelsea for somewhere between $113 and $160 million. In addition to Hazard, the Blancos are believed to have spent an additional $231.4 million on four other players, including rising Serbian youngster Luka Jovic.
Fast forward to the start of Real Madrid’s preseason, and from the second Hazard stepped on the pitch, it became clear to onlookers that the Belgian had, um ... added a few pounds. Spanish outlet Diario Gol claims that Hazardreported to preseason training roughly 15 pounds overweight, a development which apparently drew the ire of Madrid big boss Florentino Perez.
Hazard has a compact build, and has always carried a little extra weight, but 15 pounds is a non-negligible amount of weight for anyone. For Hazard, who stands 5-6 and whose game is predicated upon speed and explosiveness, it has to be worrisome for the Madrid brass. As of this writing, Hazard’s weight is trending on Google.
Hazard’s performances in preseason so far have suggested that he’s definitely not at his physical peak. His play in friendlies has been described as anonymous and sluggish, and his most notable moment so far was against Tottenham, when he was involved in a dreadful series of passes which led to a Spurs goal.
Apparently, manager Zinedine Zidane is already looking to sign more players in the event that Hazard doesn’t pull it together.
But things can always be blown out of proportion, and people can exaggerate. So it’s fair to ask, how fat did Eden Hazard get?