Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Eden Hazard could not be blamed for leaving Chelsea in the summer

David Nugent in Editorial, English Premier League 18 Mar 2019

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On Sunday, Chelsea suffered a 2-0 defeat at Everton’s Goodison Park. The defeat leaves the Blues three points outside the top-four. Maurizio Sarri’s side are not in a terrible situation when it comes to making the top-four this season.

However, too often the team from south west London have failed to deliver of late. When star player Eden Hazard does not produce the rest of the team struggles to create anything. Hazard has long been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge. The Belgian international will have just 12 months left on his contract this summer. That means the Blues may consider selling the star player in the near future.

Hazard has too much of the attacking burden

Too often in recent seasons, the weight of Chelsea’s attacking burden has been on the shoulders of the diminutive Belgian star. It as if his teammates are waiting for him to do something special, then when he does not it is his fault for the team’s failure.

When Chelsea last won the Premier League title, Hazard and Diego Costa were the main attacking contributors. However, now Hazard does not even have a top-quality striker to help him out.

The jury is still out on January signing Gonzalo Higuain, who was once a very good striker. However, the Argentinian has enjoyed mixed fortunes at Stamford Bridge so far. He has not torn up any trees that is for sure during his time at Chelsea.

Sarri deciding to play with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in the centre of midfield also means that the Blues loses an attacking threat from the middle of the park. Both are good defensive players, but neither are likely to score or assist that many goals. To add to matters when Mateo Kovacic or Ross Barkley plays in thirds midfield spot they very rarely offer much by way of goals or assists either. That puts so much pressure on Hazard to deliver.

Hazard would get into any top team in Europe

Eden Hazard has been very loyal to Chelsea, considering that he seems to be constantly linked with reigning European champions Real Madrid. The return of Zinedine Zidane as Los Blancos boss has once again seen Hazard linked with a move to the Spanish capital.

Hazard is good enough to get in any of Europe’s top teams. If he played alongside better quality players, he may even move up a level. The players currently at Chelsea are not poor, but they are not top level either. At 28, he is supposed to be at the peak of his powers. However, he is playing for a Chelsea team who are sixth place and odds of 2/1 to qualify for the Champions League this season, which makes them sixth favourites to finish in top-four.

Hazard will want to win the big trophies

Eden Hazard has been successful during his Chelsea career. However, judging by recent seasons the Blues are miles away from challenging for the big trophies any time in the future.

The Belgian international could not be blamed if he left the south west London club this summer. The Blues potentially face a big problem if Hazard wants to leave, as they could be handed a one-year transfer ban. That means they will not only be unable to replace Hazard, but they also would not be able to strengthen their squad in order to be more competitive next season. The current Chelsea squad is definitely not good enough to compete with the best next season.

I can finally see Eden Hazard leaving Stamford Bridge this summer. The Blues are unlikely to risk losing the star for nothing in the summer of 2020, so I believe they will cash-in on their star asset. Where Hazard’s exit would leave Chelsea goodness knows, especially if they are handed a one-year transfer ban.

Will Eden Hazard leave Chelsea this summer?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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