I Was Too Fat When I Signed For Real, Hazard Admits

Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard agrees he indulged a bit too much while on holiday and piled on a lot of weight after signing for the Spanish giants last summer.

The Belgium captain finally secured his dream move to the Spanish capital from Chelsea for a joint-club record 100 million euros in June but raised eyebrows when he reported for pre-season training packing some extra weight.

“It’s true, I cannot lie, if I’m on holiday, then I’m on holiday,” Hazard told Belgian magazine Sport/Foot.

“I put on five kilos in the summer. I’m one of those people who puts on weight very quickly then loses it very quickly.

“When I was at Lille I weighed 72 kilos but then I gained muscle and went to 75 kilos. On a bad day I can weigh 77. In the summer I went up to 80 kilos but I lost it again 10 days later.”

The 28-year-old found life hard going at the Santiago Bernabeu at the start with extra weight a knotty issue for many fans.

He did not score his first goal until a 4-2 win over Granada in October after which he began to hit form before succumbing to an ankle injury in a 2-2 draw with Paris St Germain in the Champions League on 26 November.