Chelsea Legend Retires

 

‘I was able to realize my dream’: Eden Hazard retires from football aged 32

• Belgian calls time after injury-plagued spell at Real Madrid
• Winger won six trophies and many plaudits at Chelsea
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Eden Hazard insisted he had lived the dream after announcing his retirement from football at the age of 32, the Belgian bringing to an end a career marked by dazzling skill and an impressive haul of trophies but which was ultimately wrecked by injuries.

Hazard rarely featured for Real Madrid having joined the Spanish giants for £88.5m from Chelsea in June 2019, in total making 76 appearances during his four years at the Bernabéu, only completing 90 minutes in six of those, and not once after December 2021. It was a situation the winger accepted could no longer continue.

“You must listen to yourself and say stop at the right time,” Hazard wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. “After 16 years and more than 700 matches played, I have decided to end my career as a professional footballer. I was able to realise my dream, I have played and had fun on many pitches around the world. Thank you to everyone for these great times, I will miss you all.”

 

 

Hazard announces his retirement 

“Chelsea has the best project,” said Hazard following the completion of his £32m move to Stamford Bridge. “The team is young and I have a better chance to play there. If I play well enough at Chelsea, I could win my place in the starting team. When they won the Champions League, I told myself: ‘Why not Chelsea?’”

Things started well for Hazard in west London – he provided an assisted on his Premier League debut against Wigan and scored himself soon after against Newcastle. But there were also some early bumps, most notably the red card he was shown at Swansea in January 2013 for kicking a teenage ballboy in frustration.

Top 10 Hazard goals for Chelsea 

Hazard got over his jaw-dropping loss of cool in south Wales and over the course of the next six years established himself as one of Chelsea’s very best players. Creative, quick, strong and ruthless, Hazard had it all and was crucial to the team’s success in that time, most notably winning two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues, an FA Cup and League Cup. In 2015, he was also named PFA player of the year.

Players react to Hazard retirement