Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has surprisingly claimed that Eden Hazard’s big backside is actually his secret weapon.
The Real Madrid summer signing has just joined from Chelsea after years of world class performances in the Premier League and for the Belgian national team.
MORE: Video: Man City star Kevin De Bruyne jokes about Eden Hazard leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid
Still, some would perhaps agree that Hazard has a slightly unusual shape for a professional footballer.
Martinez has addressed this in an interview with AS, in which he also discusses how Hazard might get on playing under his idol Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
When asked about Hazard’s ‘famous ass’, Martinez admitted it’s actually a big help for him in terms of using it as a centre of gravity to evade defenders.
‘It is his centre of gravity. He is so short that he uses it to get out of one-on-one situations in which other players can not,’ Martinez said.
‘He has a huge quality and a great vision of the game. That allows you to make the most appropriate decisions in the last third of the field. What he has is that emotions do not affect him, not even what is said about him.
‘He is a very calm person, very focused, very serene. It is always very familiar, one hundred percent with the family, and then also one hundred percent with what the group needs.’
The Spanish tactician added that in general the 28-year-old had shown great character at Chelsea throughout the long-running transfer saga that finally lead to him leaving for the Bernabeu.
‘He has given us an example, in today’s society, that a player can be very respectful of his contract and his club. And that from there has given everything he had and has always been very respectful of the situation,’ Martinez said.
If Hazard is as good in Spain as he was in England, he truly could end up being one of the signings of the summer.