Former Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure has been speaking in glowing terms about Real Madrid playmaker Eden Hazard’s bum. The Ivorian mentioned it in his column for The Athletic, in comments carried by Caught Offside.
“It has almost become a joke how big his bum is, but it is very important to how he plays football,” Toure wrote.
“Hazard is so dangerous that when the ball comes to him, he has maybe less than five seconds before the opposition are on him; I know from my time at City, you want to limit his time on the ball.
“When the ball arrives at Hazard, he can already sense the opponent coming towards him, so he waits until the last moment and uses his bum to block them.
“It pushes the opponent away – almost like a punch – and then, when he has opened up that space between him and the defender, he will power away and start the attack.
“Other wide players use their bums this way, such as Antoine Griezmann for France, and you might see Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero use this at the Copa America, but there is no one better at it than Eden Hazard.”
Toure had a well-travelled career that saw him play in Belgium, Ukraine, Greece, France, Spain, England and China, as well as enabling him to make 101 appearances for the Ivory Coast.
He’s an experienced player who knows what he’s talking about when it comes to bums.
With Barcelona, he won two La Liga titles and the Champions League, amongst other titles, as part of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering team, before leaving for Manchester City in 2010.
Hazard joined Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2019, but has failed to hit the heights that were expected of him upon his arrival; he was a big-money signing expected, in part, to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Juventus.
Currently playing his way back to full-fitness with Belgium at Euro 2020 after an injury-hit season with his club, Madrid will hope he returns revitalised and puts his bum to good use.
