Eden Hazard has revealed why he arrived at Real Madrid overweight and admitted there were days he arrived for training 'without desire' and didn't even want the ball.
The Belgian was one of the world's best players when Real paid an initial £88.3million - potentially rising to £150m with add-ons - to sign him from Chelsea in 2019.
But after continuous struggles with form and fitness, Hazard decided to retire from professional football aged just 32 in October last year.
Hazard's weight quickly became an issue after he joined Zinedine Zidane's Real squad on their pre-season tour of North America in 2019.
Some reports claimed he reported for pre-season around a stone overweight, causing friction behind the scenes at the Bernabeu over a player who could have become the club's record signing.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Hazard admitted: 'With Chelsea I'd just finished one of the best seasons of my career.
'I said to myself, "now that I'm at Real Madrid, this is perhaps the last vacation I'll be able to take…"
'And I let go of myself like I let go of myself every summer. Seven years in England, without a break at Christmas, giving everything, so when I have three or four weeks of vacation, "don't bother me," barbecues, rosé wine… all that.
'And that's what allowed me to reset myself to start again. Then, Real, it went wrong and that's it.'
Addressing allegations of laziness, Hazard added: 'They say I was a slacker. But I haven't spent 16 years [as a professional] without training. The little games, the little runs, I was there.
'It's true that some mornings I arrived without sleeping well, not feeling like it, no desire, and when it's like that, I show it.
'Don't give me the ball. I'm making a square metre and I'm not moving! I don't move.
'And I don't move for an hour. An hour of tactics? "Can I go with the physio?"'
Hazard was plagued by injury setbacks throughout his time at the Bernabeu and was restricted to just 76 games over four seasons.
Carlo Ancelotti had essentially ostracised him from the team by the time he called time on his playing career.
In the same L'Equipe interview, Hazard confessed he never felt like he fitted in at Real Madrid.
'I've been a Zinedine Zidane fan since I was a child. The Bernabeu, the white kit… it has a charm that others don't have. Real Madrid is special,' he said.
'Beyond that, I don't think that I fit in. It's not like me. It's a bit of a 'swaggering' club and I'm not like that.
'I also didn't like the way we played if you compare it to other clubs. But, it was my dream. I couldn't finish my career without coming here.'