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Former Chelsea star John Mikel Obi has revealed former Chelsea star Eden Hazard told him that his injury woes at Real Madrid were down to his high efforts in training.

Hazard announced his shock retirement from football in October.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE, Mikel said: “I was talking to him the other day, he said to me, ‘Mikel, it’s not like I was not trying.’

“He said, ‘When I went to Madrid, I looked at myself and was like ok let me try, let me give it a go, let me put some effort in.’ But then I started getting injuries, my body couldn’t take it.

“‘I just looked at it and was like you know what, I’m just gonna quit.’ He said, ‘I got offers to go to Saudi Arabia, what am I going to do? I’ve got a lot of money right now, I don’t need the money.

“‘Should I go to Saudi where I’m going to take a million a week, and then what?’ He said to me, ‘I got about two or three offers to go to Saudi.’ He said, ‘Mikel, I’ve got a lot of money.’

“He said to me, ‘You know how I live my life.’ I said, ‘Yeah I know.’ He said, ‘I don’t spend too much money.’ We know he doesn’t, he’s not a guy who wears flashy stuff, he wears one pair of Nike trainers for a very long time.

“He said, ‘I don’t spend money, so I have money now to live with my family and to bring up [my children].'”

Hazard scored 110 goals and assisted another 92 in 352 appearances for the Blues, establishing himself as a club legend in west London.