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Becoming a professional footballer at the highest level requires an incredible amount of sacrifice. Players have to maintain an optimum level of fitness and keep themselves in good shape throughout the year.
The schedules have become even more grueling of late and footballers hardly get to let loose or even go on vacation these days. But there have been many instances where a player has gone on a summer break only to return and report for pre-season training in suboptimal condition.
When the training photos come out, football fans, as unforgiving as they are on social media these days, are quick to call them out on it. Without further ado, let's take a look at five famous forwards who have been accused of being overweight recently.
#5 Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku never really hit top gear during his time at Manchester United. But he had a decent 2017-18 season with the Red Devils, scoring 27 goals and providing nine assists in 51 appearances across all competitions.
Lukaku also had a good outing with Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup as they finished third in the competition. He scored four goals for the Belgian Red Devils in the competition. But when he returned for pre-season training after the summer break, Lukaku was accused of being overweight.
Prior to his move to Inter Milan in the summer of 2019, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville accused him of being overweight and unprofessional. In a response to English journalist Andy Mitten on Twitter, Neville wrote:
"He admitted he was overweight ! He is over 100kg! He’s a Manchester United player! He will score goals and do well at Inter Milan but unprofessionalism is contagious."
Lukaku hit back at Neville (via Football365) by posting a shirtless photo of himself, where he looked ripped and captioned it,
"Not bad for a fat boy."
#4 Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard secured his dream move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 on a club-record deal worth €115 million. The Belgium international had largely stayed injury-free during his time at Chelsea and wasn't known to have fitness issues.
But the way he showed up for training at Real Madrid prior to the 2019-20 season made the club question his commitment to the cause. In an interview with L’Equipe via Goal in November 2019, Hazard admitted that he was indeed overweight when he returned from vacation. He said:
“It’s true. I’m not going to hide it, but when I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation. I had put on five kilos, I’m the type to put on quickly and lose so quickly if I’m careful.
“When I was 18, in Lille, I was 72 or 73 kg. Muscle mass was 75 kg, on a bad day, 77 kg. I was 80 kg this summer, I lost it in 10 days.”
#3 Gonzalo Higuain
Juventus shelled out €90 million in the summer of 2016 to sign Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli. He was in peak goalscoring form in the 2015-16 campaign, netting 38 times and providing three assists in 42 appearances across all competitions for the Partenopei.
However, the Bianconeri faithful were shocked to see the shape Higuain was in when he took the field on his Juventus debut. The Argentinian marksman seemed overweight and fans were not pleased to see the club's then-record signing in that shape.
But credit to Higuain, he turned things around and had a very good debut season at Juventus. He went on to score 32 goals and provided four assists in 55 appearances across all competitions for the Bianconeri that season.
#2 Neymar Jr.
Neymar Jr. has always been known for being an athletic and agile forward who excels at weaving his way past defenders with ease and grace. But ahead of the 2021-22 season, Neymar was called out by fans on Instagram for being overweight.
During the summer break, Neymar was pictured shirtless in a yact and some fans were quick to accuse him of letting himself go and putting on some extra pounds. After Neymar made his first appearance of the 2021-22 season against Reims, journalists accused the forward of being static and 'out of shape'.
Suffice to say, the discourse over Neymar's fitness stretched over a fairly large portion of the summer. After fans poked fun at him for apparently appearing overweight during Brazil's 1-0 win over Chile in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in September, the Brazilian international decided to provide a response.
He took to Instagram (via TalkSport) and revealed that he was just wearing a wrong-sized shirt. The PSG attacker said that he was wearing a 'size G' (European large) shirt and insisted that he is not overweight.
#1 Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez joined Barcelona in the summer of 2014. But he was suspended for the first half of the 2014-15 season after being found of guilty of biting Italian centre-back Giorgio Chiellini in a 2014 FIFA World Cup group stage match.
Suarez made his Barcelona debut in a B team clash. He bagged a brace in the game but a Madrid-based TV channel (via Daily Mirror) labeled Suarez 'fat' and claimed he looked like an 'ex-footballer'.
Then-Barcelona manager Luis Enrique hit back at the reports at a press conference later that week and said:
"Suarez, fat? He is a naturally stocky player. He is at his ideal weight and he is ready to compete."
He added:
"If you want we'll give him liposuction but I don't think he needs it."
In the 43 appearances he made during the 2014-15 season, Suarez scored 25 goals and provided 23 assists. The Uruguay international went on to make history with Barcelona and was their top-scorer across all competitions (59 goals in 35 appearances) as they won the continental treble in the 2015-16 season.
