Eden Hazard: “The king, that’s my buddy. He called me to ask if I would not return as a Red Devil” | Red Devils

It was in the disappointment after the quick exit at the Qatar World Cup in the winter of 2022 that Eden Hazard announced his retirement as a Red Devil. This was followed by another attempt by Filip to make him reconsider that decision. Hazard: “He called me and asked if I still wanted to play. And he asked me why I stopped. He then said that he regretted that, although he still insisted on thanking me for what I have meant to Belgium… Well, among kings we sometimes call each other,” said Hazard with a quip.

Just before that he also returned to his famous wink in the direction of Filip. When the king came to greet the Red Devils on the field before the international match against Bosnia-Herzegovina in September 2015, Hazard treated him to a mischievous wink in the King Baudouin Stadium. “I do a wink like that regularly. Usually to lighten the atmosphere. But yes, that conscious wink received a lot of attention at the time. Oh, the king, that’s my buddy. I have a good relationship with him.”

The eldest Hazard will return from football retirement in the coming months. On June 9 he will be at Stamford Bridge for charity, and in the weeks before that he will be in Mexico for the ‘Kings World Cup’, an exhibition tournament organized by former FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué.