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Eden Hazard had wanted this move ever since he was a child. Even though he played a few pre season friendlies, he still has not started for Real. Today he came on in the 60th minute. Madrid had the job done even if they conceded two goals in the second half. They won 3-2 against Levante thanks to Benzema.
But it will take Hazard a couple of games before he gets into his stride. So it will be interesting to see if they start him against PSG on Wednesday night. You could see he was short of fitness today and he needs game time.
He has never been a good trainer so this will be interesting to see how Zidane deals with him. He was always first out of the training ground at Chelsea racing to collect his kids from school. He never likes the gym and when he is on holiday, he is on holiday. Eden Hazard is like the rest of us when on holiday. Puts on a few pounds. Last year he returned to training at 11 stone 12Ib and for his height he was way over weight. But on the pitch he dragged Chelsea kicking and screaming to winning the Europa League and also into the top 4 of the premiership. The Chelsea players called him Fatty as a sort of joke. They knew he carried them and he knew they were joking. A couple of extra pounds never really bothered one of the best players in the world at this moment in time. There are a couple of more changes that Hazard will have difficulty with at the Santiago Bernabéu.
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I was over to the UK last year to interview the president of my company. Long story short she lives near Cobham in Surrey. She told me Hazard lived close by. Cobham is a little village near Chelsea. It is an affluent pleasant little village that is used to its celebrity population. They let their famous residents live as normal of a life as possible. Hazard is said to have fallen in love with living in Cobham as he himself is from a little village outside Brussels called Braine Le Comte. He likes the village life where everyone knows each other and Cobham is a similar size. The people there let him live his life and never really intrude or ask him for selfies etc. Hazard keeps his private life private and thats the way he likes it.
Now take Madrid for example.
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The Spanish Press are said to be the worst in Europe. And football is one of their main news topics. They will be following where he buys his house, who he lives next to. The city is like a goldfish bowl unlike London. It will be hard to recreate his village life in the Spanish Capital.
But those who have followed Hazard's career will know he is the kind of player who will not have a problem on the pitch. He is now where he wants to be. He can become a Messi and Ronaldo. He has the talent. I am really looking forward to seeing him at Madrid.