Fans have figured out why Eden Hazard retired early, it's something that happened at the start of his career

Fans have worked out why Eden Hazard has had to retire from professional football at the age of 32.

On Tuesday, the Belgian announced his immediate retirement from professional football via a statement on social media.

Hazard wrote: “You must listen to yourself and say stop at the right time. After 16 years and more than 700 matches played, have decided to end my career as a professional footballer.

“I was able to realise my dream, I have played and had fun on many pitches around the world. During my career I was lucky to meet great managers, coaches and teammates - thank you to everyone for these great times, will miss you all.”

On the back of Hazard’s announcement, fans have worked out why he has had to make this decision so soon.

A picture of ‘Minutes played by the age of 24’ was posted on social media by The Byline’s Alex Goldberg, Hazard topped the list after amassing 26,649 minutes by the time he reached 24 years old.

Others on the list included the likes of Dele Alli, Neymar, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Reacting on social media, one said: “His body just gave up on him when he reached 29.”

Another tweeted: “For people wondering why his body broke down. Add to this the amount of full-force challenges he’d have to face cause players couldn’t get the ball off of him.”

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A third fan added: “Longevity talks from rivals like some of their players accumulated this sort of minutes at a very young age. His body gave up on him.”

Someone else wrote: “Those minutes hurt Hazard Alli Neymar and Rooney and stopped them playing well into their 30s. Ronaldo is a genius.”

Whilst a fifth commented: “His body couldn't take it anymore. Glad he wore our colors and entertained us all during his best years.”

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