Former Chelsea and Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from football at age 32. The Belgian made the announcement on Tuesday stating that he will miss the football.

The 32-year-old left Real Madrid in the summer after spending four years at the club, winning every trophy available. Before joining Real Madrid, he spent seven years at Stamford Bridge playing for Chelsea, where he made close to 250 appearances and scored 85 goals.

The winger who broke through at Lille in 2007, winning the Ligue 1 and Cup doubles in 2011, said he realized his dream of playing all over the world.

“I was able to realise my dream, I have played and had fun on many pitches around the world. During my career I was lucky to meet great managers, coaches, and teammates — thank you to everyone for these great times; I will miss you all. Finally, a huge thank you to you, my fans, who have followed me for all these years and for your encouragement everywhere I have played. Now is the time to enjoy my loved ones and have new experiences. See you off the field soon, my friends.” Hazard Wrote.

The winger made 126 appearances for the Belgian national team in 14 years, scoring 33 goals for the Red Devils. After leaving Real Madrid in the summer, he sought different offers to find a new club, but the most meaningful ones were in Saudi Arabia and the potential return to the Premier League with Crystal Palace, which never worked out.

Eden Hazard’s decline started when he joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in 2019 for 89 million pounds but only played 54 League games for the Santiago Bernabeu outside, which ultimately proved the end of his 16-year-old career, which had over 700 matches.

Hazard retired from international duty after the FIFA World Cup in December, which saw Belgium knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu