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10th October 2023
12:41pm BST
A warning Toni Kroos sent to Eden Hazard months before he confirmed his retirement from football has resurfaced.
Hazard officially hung up the boots on Tuesday after leaving Real Madrid by mutual consent in the summer.
The 32-year-old struggled for form during his time at the 14-time European champions but his spell at Chelsea earned himself a place in Premier League folklore.
Scoring 110 goals across 352 appearances, the Belgian won two Premier League titles among various other honours at Stamford Bridge.
Despite his varying success throughout the majority of his career, Hazard struggled to set the world alight at Madrid after being plagued by various injuries, making only 54 appearances in his time at the Bernabeu.
His tenure at Madrid is widely regarded as disappointing and previous comments made by Kroos reflected that when he spoke about Jude Bellingham's move to the Spanish capital.
Speaking on the Einfach mal Luppen podcast, he said: "€103million transfer fee? We now also had someone who came for a lot of money and virtually let his career die.
"A lot of money and I think everyone would say in retrospect: That was not such a good transfer. But now let's start from the positive."
Following his confirmation of retirement, Hazard posted a statement saying: "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.
"I also want to thank the clubs I have played for: LOSC, Chelsea and Real Madrid; and thank the RBFA for my Belgian selection.
"A special thank you to my family, my friends, my advisors and the people who have been close to me in good times and bad.
"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."
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