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“The laziest footballer I’ve ever seen” -Ex-Super Eagles star speaks on experience with Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard and John Obi Mikel were teammates for six years, winning the Premier League together under Antonio Conte in 2015.

Super Eagles star, John Mikel Obi, has called Eden Hazard, the laziest footballer he’s ever played alongside, Soccernet.ng reports.

Mikel and Hazard played together for five seasons, from 2012, till Mikel bid the Stanford Bridge goodbye in 2016.

During their time at the club, they won a Premier League title, The UEFA Europa League and The FA Cup together in a trophy laiden career during their stints at the club.

Hazard left the club much later, moving to Madrid in 2018, before injuries marred what was set to be his big move. He eventually retired from football a few weeks ago, claiming it’s time to drink a few more beers.

Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, Mikel described what it’s like to have the Belgian legend in training.

“He is the laziest footballer I’ve ever seen in my life, but then, come the weekend, and he wins the man-of-the-match award, and then he comes in and shows everyone. He’s like, come on guys, you see,” the former Super Eagles midfielder said.

“If you look at him now, he’s lost a little weight, but when he was at Chelsea, the night before the game, after dinner, he’ll sit for like twenty minutes, eating his rice pudding. He likes his food,” Obi added.

The former Super Eagles captain highlighted that despite Hazard’s faults in training, his performance during games were almost never in question, as he always delivered premium displays.

“He then goes to bed, wakes up in the morning, shows up to the game by 3 pm, and produces. In training, he isolates himself and doesn’t really participate. He just smacks about, but then comes up with the goods on the weekends.”

During his time at Chelsea, Hazard was widely acknowledged by many as the best football player in the world, barre Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi.

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria. With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience. He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.

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