5 Things You Need To Know About Eden Hazard: Profile Of The Chelsea Legend

We are starting a series of posts looking back at some of the careers of Chelsea’s greatest players, and in today’s article, we will be looking at Eden Hazard.

The Belgian international chose the Blues over a number of other interested clubs when he joined from Lille in 2012 and he went on to have an outstanding career at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard’s superb ball control and speed of movement mesmerised supporters throughout his seven years at the club and some of his goals and assists will go down in club folklore.

Press the next page as we list five things you need to know about the Chelsea legend.

A £32m Bargain

Although £32m was still a quite sizeable sum in 2012, signing one of Europe’s most promising young talents for such a relatively modest fee proved to be an absolute masterstroke.

After arriving from Lille, Hazard went on to score 13 goals in his first campaign, helping to win the Europa League for the first time in Chelsea’s history.

The Mourinho Years

Following the appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager, Hazard’s game moved on to another level, racking up 36 goals and 23 assists over the next two campaigns between 2013 and 2015.

The Belgian was named PFA Player of the Year in 2015 after helping the Blues to their first league title in five years, as well as lifting the League Cup in the same season.

A Season Of Struggle

It must be remembered that Hazard’s career at Chelsea hasn’t been all plain-sailing and he did suffer a dip in form during the 2015/16 season which coincided with the sacking of Mourinho for the second time.

The Belgian only scored six goals in all competitions and he did flirt with a move to Paris Saint-Germain briefly before deciding to stay at the Blues.

Conte’s Title Winning Season

The arrival of Antonio Conte as manager in the summer of 2016 revived his fortunes. He started the 2016/17 campaign in excellent form with a man of the match display in the 2-1 win over West Ham and he didn’t look back from there.

Hazard’s 17 goals and five assists helped Chelsea secure another Premier League title. He did not win the Player of the Year this time around, though, with the award deservingly going to his teammate N’Golo Kante instead.

His Final Two Years And Departure

Conte’s second season at Chelsea was far less successful but Hazard’s form continued to be excellent, and he scored the crucial penalty in the 2018 FA Cup final against Manchester United.

Speculation, however, had begun to grow about his future with the Belgian having explicitly stated he was keen on working with Zinedine Zidane. A move to Real Madrid looked inevitable but before his exit in the summer of 2019, he delivered one final gift to supporters by scoring twice and providing an assist as the Blues beat Arenal in the 2019 Europa League final.

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