A former Chelsea team-mate of Eden Hazard has revealed that the Dutch playmaker used to play Mario Kart as close as five minutes to the start of one of their games.
Former left-back Filipe Luiz told the Mail: “Eden along with Neymar are the best players I have ever played alongside – up there with Messi.
“He didn’t train well, five minutes before the game he would be playing Mario Kart in the dressing room.
“He would warm-up without tying his bootlaces up. But then no one could take the ball off of him. He would dribble past three or four players and win games on his own.
“Hazard has so much talent. Perhaps he lacks a little bit of ambition to say, ‘I am going to be the best player in the world’. Because he could be.”
Despite what may be described as a relaxed approach to his game, Hazard scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists that season.
Hazard wasn’t the only player Luiz was full of praise for as he likened Mo Salah to Lionel Messi in some training sessions for the blues.
In an interview with The Guardian, Luiz said that Mohamed Salah was so good in Chelsea training sessions that he resembled the great Lionel Messi.
Luiz spent only one season at Stamford Bridge before returning to Atletico Madrid but he admitted that Salah made him suffer during his time at Chelsea training sessions.
“It might look like we fell out but I admire [Mourinho], I won the league with him. But he didn’t get the best out of me, just as he didn’t with Salah.”
“I suffered Salah in training, pfff. When he went Fiorentina, I said: ‘Why are you going, Momo? This is Chelsea.’ And he said: ‘I need to play.’
“I thought: ‘This kid’s good.’ He never went for money or to win more; he went to show he could play.
“In training he was like Messi. Really, like Messi. Ask anyone.”
Liverpool signed Salah for £34 million in 2017 and a lot of Premier League fans had doubts about the Egyptian after he had flopped at Chelsea.
Fortunately for Liverpool Salah has been a genius under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp the 28-year-old has netted a magnificent 118 goals in 186 appearances.
Salah has won two Premier League Golden Boot awards and was instrumental in Liverpool winning both the league title and the Champions League in 2020.