Eden Hazard at Chelsea
Eden Hazard is a professional football player, who plays currently for the Spanish giants Real Madrid and is the captain of the Belgium national team.
The Belgian is considered to be one of the best players in the world, because he has unbelievable creativity, speed and acceleration, not to mention his perfect dribbling and passing.
Real Madrid signed Hazard in the summer of 2019 for a transfer fee of €150 million.
His first season with Los Blancos was not great as the 29-year-old Belgian has been injured for most of it. He made only 10 appearances in which he scored one goal and made four assists.
Today we decided to take a look in the past and see what Hazard's career looked like in Chelsea, and what made Real Madrid give that big amount of money for him.
Hazard's move from Lille to Chelsea
Eden Hazard made his professional debut for the Ligue 1 team Lille in 2007, when he was only 16-year-old. The Belgian became an integral part of the French team and made over 190 appearances for the club.
In 2008/09 season, Hazard first full season as a part of the Starting XI of the club, he won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, which made him the first non-French player to win it.
The next season, 2009-10, was also a complete success for the Belgian international and he won the award for the second time, becoming the first player to win it not once, but twice.
For his incredible performance, Hazard was named Ligue 1 Team of the Year. In 2010-11, he was a part of the Lille team, when they won the league and cup double, and as a result, he was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year, becoming the youngest player ever to win the award.
Eden Hazard won the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo for his unbelievable performance.
After five years spent with Lille, in 2012 the English club Chelsea signed the player for £32 million. That's when the path to the glory began.
Eden Hazard made his debut in the club's first pre-season friendly match against the Seattle Sounders. He made his competitive debut for the Blues on August 12 in the game against Manchester City for the Community Shield.
In his first league match for Chelsea, which was against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, Hazard assisted for Branislav Ivanović's opening goal and few minutes later he managed to earn a penalty, which Lampard converted into goal.
On August 22, he made his debut on Stamford Bridge, where he made two assists and won a penalty. Few days later, Hazard scored his first goal for Chelsea in the game against Newcastle United.
In his first season as a Chelsea player, Hazard made 33 appearances and scored nine goals. He also won the UEFA Europa League 2012/13 in his first season with the Blues.
Two consecutive great seasons
In the beginning of the 2013/14 season, Chelsea played one of their first games against Bayern Munich for the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, and Hazard played a vital role in the build up for the first goal, and he managed to score one too.
Hazard netted his fifth goal of the season against Schalke in a crucial 0–3 Champions League Group stage win.
In the game against Sunderland on 4 December 2013, Hazard scored a brace in a 4–3 away victory and Jose Mourinho claimed that Hazard made "his best performance of the season."
On 27 April 2014, Hazard won the PFA Young Player of the Year award and finished as the runner-up to Luis Suárez for the PFA Player of the Year award for his fine attacking performances under José Mourinho.
In 2014, Chelsea exited from the Champions League after a defeat from Atletico Madrid, and Jose Mourinho blamed Hazard on the first goal, saying that he "is not so mentally ready" and did not help in defense.
However, in May after just two seasons with the Blues, Hazard was voted Chelsea's Player of the Year.
For 2013/14 season, Hazard made 35 appearances in the Premier League for the Blues and scored 14 goals.
On 5 October 2014/15 season, after scoring from a penalty kick to Arsenal, Hazard became the first player in Europe who has taken more than 15 penalties and scored all of them.
Hazard renewed his contract with Chelsea on 2 February 2015, and after he signed his new deal he said: "I've signed a new contract and I'm very happy because I'm playing for one of the best clubs in the world."
The Belgian was named Chelsea's Player of the Year, becoming the fourth player who has done it two years in a row. Only Juan Mata, Frank Lampard, Ray Wilkins, and John Hollins have done it in the past.
The 2014/15 season was very successful for Hazard as he played in all 38 games and managed to score 14 goals and 10 assists.
After a slow start he managed to spark again
Hazard had a slow start in the 2015/16 season, as he missed a penalty in the Champions League group stage against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He also was the only player who missed a penalty in the penalty shootout elimination for the League Cup away to Stoke.
His overall season was a total waste as he made 31 appearances in the Premier League and scored only four goals and had four assists.
However, after the bad previous season, Hazard had a great 2016/17 season.
In the first Chelsea's game for the season, which was against West Ham United, Hazard scored from a penalty kick in the 2–1 win. He was named Man of the Match as he made overall of 81 touches throughout the game.
In September, the Belgian was named Premier League Player of the Month.
On 23 October, Hazard equaled the number of goals he scored the previous season in the 4–0 win over Manchester United, whose manager at the time was Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's former head coach.
In November, Hazard won the Premier League Player of the Month for the second time of the season. Hazard was named in the PFA Team of the Year on 20 April 2017.
For his fifth season with Chelsea, Hazard helped them win the FA Cup, after coming as a substitute and scoring a goal in Chelsea 4–2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium.
The Belgian played in 36 matches and scored 16 goals, and assisted five.
In the beginning of the next 2017/18 season, Hazard suffered an ankle injury and missed the entire pre-season and the Premier League opener.
Hazard's final season at Stamford Bridge
Eden Hazard had a great start of 2018/19 season, as he scored in the first match he played against Newcastle United, and few days later, he scored a hat-trick against Cardiff City.
On 9 May, after a penalty shootout, Hazard scored the decisive penalty against Eintracht Frankfurt and sent Chelsea to the final of the UEFA Europa League. Chelsea played against Arsenal in the final and Hazard scored twice and assisted to Pedro for the 4-1 win over the Gunners.
After the final, the Belgian said that he does not think he will ever play for Chelsea again.
His final season for the Blues was great, as the 29-year-old played in 37 games and scored 16 times, and had 15 assists.
After seven years spent at Stamford Bridge, Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid on 1 July. Hazard won the Premier League title two times with the Blues.
He also won the FA Cup and EFL Cup once, and the Europa League twice.
Eden Hazard was one of the best players at Chelsea, but he decided that he wants a new challenge in his professional career, that's why he joined the club he admired since he was young.
