Eden Hazard

In the summer of 2012 Eden Hazard was the most coveted young player in Europe. He chose to leave Lille for the champions of Europe, and Chelsea paid around £32 million. Seven years later he left as one of the greatest ever to play at Stamford Bridge.

His numbers: 352 games and 110 goals in all competitions. He was voted Chelsea Player of the Year four times, a club record. In 2014 he won PFA Young Player of the Year, and in 2015 both major English awards, the PFA and the FWA, plus Premier League Player of the Season.

The haul: two league titles (2015, 2017), an FA Cup, a League Cup and two Europa Leagues, one in his first season and one in his last.

Goodbyes are rarely this good. On 19 May 2018 he won and scored the penalty that settled the FA Cup final 1–0 against Manchester United. A year later in Baku he scored twice in a 4–1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final. It was his last game in blue.

Hazard played as if he were having fun. Low centre of gravity, the ball glued to his foot, defenders throwing themselves at him and finding nothing. For a generation of fans he was the reason not to miss a game.

Sources

• Chelsea FC — Team of 120 (2012 move from Lille, honours, record four Player of the Year awards)
• Wikipedia — List of Chelsea F.C. players (352 apps / 110 goals)
• Wikipedia — Eden Hazard (2018 FA Cup final, 2019 Baku final, individual awards)
• Wikimedia Commons — Eden Hazard 2017.jpg (photo: @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London, CC BY-SA 2.0)