Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has shone a light on his time at Stamford Bridge and given a rare insight into the training habits of ex-Blues star Eden Hazard.
Mikel and Hazard shared five trophy-laden years together at Stamford Bridge working under Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Guus Hiddink, and Antonio Conte with both leaving the club in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
However, Mikel has revealed that despite being a match-winner on the pitch, his Belgian team-mate was the 'laziest footballer he has seen in his life' but admitted he got away with it due to his standout performances on matchday.
'Everybody wants to be in the starting 11 come the weekend and there is no place for you to be like 'I don't want to train today'. The only player I saw do that and get away with it was Eden Hazard,' Mikel told Dubai Eye.
'He never trained. The worst. The laziest footballer I have ever seen in my life. But then come the weekend he produces and was man of the match. He comes in then and was like 'come on guys you see'.
Hazard starred during seven years at the Premier League giants, lifting two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues, an FA Cup, and a League cup, before departing for Real Madrid in 2019.
However, his time in the Spanish capital has been testing to say the least, with Hazard frequently injured, struggling to find form, and being criticised for putting on weight.
Hazard was even questioned on his weight fluctuation at the Qatar World Cup with Belgium, but has been defended by Mikel for trimming down.
But the now retired Nigerian did explain how Hazard 'likes his food' and would often sit down to eat a rice pudding the night before a match as he was allowed to 'do whatever he wants' during his time at Chelsea.
'I actually think when you look at him now he has lost a lot of weight,' said Mikel.
'But when he was at Chelsea the night before a game after dinner, he sits there for like 20 minutes, half an hour, eating rice pudding. He likes his food.
'Then he goes to bed, wakes up on a Saturday morning and is there, he produces. We just let him do whatever he wants,' he added.
Hazard's Real Madrid injury nightmare was deal another devastating blow in a recent training session that saw him pick up a knee injury that has ruled him out of upcoming games.
The latest set-back is Hazard's 18th injury since moving to Madrid where he has completed 90 minutes on just six occasions since the 19/20 season and missing 76 games for the Spanish giants in the process.