Eden Hazard has confessed he arrived at Real Madrid overweight and struggled to adapt in his first couple of months at the club.
The Belgium international joined Madrid from Chelsea in a reported €100million deal in June, ending months of speculation over his future.
Hazard’s competitive debut was delayed by several weeks due to a muscle injury sustained in pre-season and he did not get off the mark with his first goal until early October.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger recently suggested Hazard’s weight gain was to blame for his slow start and the 28-year-old has now admitted as much.
“It’s true,” Hazard told L’Equipe. “I’m not going to hide it. When I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation. I had put on five kilos, but I’m the type of person who can lose it quickly if I’m careful.
“When I was 18 at Lille, I was 72 or 73 kilograms. My muscle mass was 75kg, on a bad day 77kg. I was 80kg this summer, but I lost it in 10 days.”
Hazard, who has one goal and two assists in his first 11 appearances for Madrid, claimed his performances are improving over time.
“I was not good enough,” he said of his start to life in the Spanish capital. “I told myself to start playing well.
“The first two months were not good enough. I thought, ‘I can do better’. I’ve felt better for a month now – I dribble, accelerate and try to make others play better.
“The first couple of months I reminded myself that I’m new and had to play simple. There were too many passes and people were waiting for me to dribble.”