'It's difficult for me to admit' - Hazard shares his Arsenal secret

The former Chelsea star dropped a surprising Arsenal revelation that he says is ‘difficult to admit’.

Eden Hazard has admitted he was an Arsenal fan as a child, having grown up idolizing the French players that starred in north London between the late 1990s and early 2000s.

It’s no secret, of course, that the French-speaking Belgian idolized his Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane as a youngster. But there were other Frenchmen he admired, including Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and three other Gunners.

Eden Hazard: “For me, the players I looked up to were Zinedine Zidane & Thierry Henry. It’s difficult for me to admit because of my relationship with Chelsea, but I really liked the Arsenal team at the time. They had players like Pires, Wiltord & Vieira.” [On The Front Foot] #afc pic.twitter.com/Rhh77UTuG0

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) February 9, 2021

“When I was little, the team I watched the most was the French national team. For me, the players I looked up to were Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry,” Hazard, who played for Chelsea between 2012 and 2019, told magazine On the Front Foot.

“It’s difficult for me to admit because of my relationship with Chelsea, but I really liked the Arsenal team at the time. They had players like Robert Pires, [Sylvain] Wiltord, and [Patrick] Vieira, so it was mainly French players that I followed growing up.”

Hazard made 292 appearances during a seven-year spell at Chelsea, managing 110 goals and 92 assists. Following a transfer to Real Madrid in 2019, however, he has been unable to rediscover his form.

A key reason behind this has been the many injury setbacks he has suffered since taking the iconic no.7 jersey in Madrid.