Roy Keane has criticised Eden Hazard for failing to succeed at Real Madrid.
Hazard announced his retirement from football on Tuesday morning, after terminating his contract with the Spanish giants by mutual consent.
The Belgian is regarded as one of the best players to ever play in the Premier League, having won two Premier League titles, and a PFA Player of the Year award, although Keane disagrees.
“No, no,” Keane told The Overlap when asked whether Hazard achieved everything people thought he would.
“Listen, brilliant player at Chelsea but when he turned up in the condition he turned up at Real Madrid… not good.
“He’s had injuries, talented boy, but the fact when you talk about Real Madrid, I find it hard to…
“It’s sad to see because he’s a talented player but it goes to show your talent isn’t enough.
“He didn’t look like he had the full package in terms of his mind-set when he went to Real Madrid, you can’t turn up overweight for your first pre-season at the club.
“It can be difficult to go to any big club but you turn up in the best shape to give yourself the best chance, he didn’t give himself a chance, even if the club was maybe, he was going to the club at a bad time, but you can still turn up in shape.
“I still wouldn’t put him in, with the players you’ve mentioned, the brilliant players in the Premier League, with [Alan] Shearer, [Thierry] Henry, I still wouldn’t put him in that bracket.
“I still think if it’s less than three or four years, I think that’s not long enough when you start talking about other amazing players who have done it for eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 years, for two or three years, for me, is still not long enough.”
Jamie Carragher was however not in total agreement with Keane, and said he believes Hazard is a Premier great.
“I think he was one of the best players I’ve ever seen in the Premier League. He was one of the best players in a World Cup when Belgium finished third, he won Player of the Year a couple of times,” Carragher said.
“I do think there’s something about Barcelona and Real Madrid, for me, I think they are the two biggest clubs in the world in that the best players in the world always play for those teams.
“And he hasn’t done that last bit what Roy’s talking about where you think of what Ronaldinho did at Barcelona, what [Cristiano] Ronaldo did when he went to Real Madrid, what [Jude] Bellingham looks like he’s doing when he’s gone to Real Madrid. I think you elevate yourself to another level if you produce the goods at those two clubs and he [Hazard] just hasn’t got there.
“I think a lot of that is what Roy said, how can you go to Real Madrid like that? I can’t understand that.
“But in terms of the Premier League I think he’d be close to an all-time Premier League XI, I think he’d definitely be in the discussion, I thought he was brilliant for Chelsea.”