Hazard faces criticism after retirement from professional football

A Manchester United icon, Roy Keane has voiced criticism regarding Eden Hazard, the retired Belgian footballer, citing concerns about his weight during his time at Real Madrid.

Keane went further to state that the former Chelsea star should not be regarded as one of the top ten Premier League players of all time.

These comments followed Hazard’s announcement of retirement from football at the age of 32. The Belgian had been a free agent over the summer after parting ways with Real Madrid.

Asked if Hazard has achieved everything people thought he would, Keane said on The Overlap: “No, no. Listen, brilliant player at Chelsea but when he turned up in the conditions at Real Madrid, not good.”

He insisted that Hazard “didn’t look like he had the full package in terms of his mindset when he went to Real Madrid.”

He said: “You can’t turn up overweight for your first pre-season at the club. I still would not put him in, with the players you’ve mentioned, the brilliant players in the Premier League—[Alan] Shearer and [Thierry] Henry—I still wouldn’t put him in that bracket.

“I still think if it’s less than three or four years, I think that is not long enough when you start talking about other amazing players who have done it for eight, nine, 10, 11, or 12 years; for two or three years, for me, is still not long enough.”