As Didier Drogba’s penalty hit the back of the net to clinch the Champions League trophy for Chelsea, Ron Gourlay was already thinking of the money. Not long after the celebrations had died down, the Blues chief executive revealed the Allianz Arena triumph could be worth “hundreds of millions” and, hinting at the club’s intentions in this summer’s transfer market, went on to say:
Winning it and qualifying to play in it next season does help us attract players. It does help with the negotiations and what you’ve got to offer. Every season we have brought three or four players in and that will continue.
Yesterday brought confirmation that Chelsea mean business. Far from resting on their laurels, the London outfit have beaten the two Manchester clubs to the punch by snapping up Eden Hazard from French outfit Lille in a deal rumoured to be in the region of £32m.
There’s little doubt the transfer is a huge coup – Hazard is one of the most highly-regarded young stars in world football and should light up the Premier League upon his arrival next season. Having passed a medical and agreed personal terms on a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge, the 21 year old – who is now the fourth Belgian on the Blues’ books – went on to declare:
I’m delighted to finally arrive here, it’s a wonderful club and I can’t wait to get started. It’s true that initially there were a number of clubs in for me..Ultimately, for a player it’s all about winning things; I want to win as many trophies as possible, which is another reason why I came here as Chelsea have been winning things for a long time now, and I hope to win many more during my time here.
The Statistics
A prodigious talent, Hazard was snapped up by hometown club Royal Stade Brainois at just four years of age. Eight years later, he moved to Belgian club Tubize, where he was first spotted by Lille scouts and subsequently offered a youth contract. Hazard joined the Ligue 1 outfit in 2005 before penning his first professional contract a couple of years later, though it wasn’t until the 2008-09 season that he finally nailed down a regular starting role.
Over the past four seasons in the Lille first XI, Hazard’s attacking returns steadily improved, with his on-pitch performances thoroughly justifying the praise lavished upon his undoubted talents. While his first campaign produced just four goals and an assist in 30 appearances, the young Belgian stepped up the following year, with five goals and eight assists in 37 games.
The following season, Hazard’s seven goals and 10 assists helped Rudi Garcia’s side to the Ligue 1 title, while last term he was simply sensational, providing 20 goals and 15 assists in an outstanding campaign. In total, he has played 192 games in all competitions for Lille, scoring 50 goals and providing 38 assists – as the above stats show, though, Chelsea are clearly getting a player approaching peak form.
Hazard also picked up plenty of personal awards during his time in France – he was Young Player of the Year in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns before picking up the Player of the Year award for the past couple of season running.
The Prospects
Given the level of outlay, it’s obvious that Hazard will be a key player in Chelsea’s bid for further glory next term. The player himself admitted that playing time was a significant factor in his decision to reject both United and City, going on to say:
The final choice depends on the game time I will have and the position where I will be aligned.
Hazard is more used to a 4-3-3 system at Lille – primarily right-footed, he was mainly fielded on the left flank as an inverted winger, with his ability to cut inside onto his stronger foot a feature of his play. Bearing in mind the Blues don’t even have a permanent manager yet, it’s difficult to ascertain exactly where Hazard will feature – while his adaptability means he can play in any of the attacking midfield slots, it’s rumoured his preferred choice is through the middle.
Fernando Torres’ recent revelation that he has been assured more of a prominent role next season by Roman Abramovich perhaps suggests the Blues will maintain their 4-2-3-1 shape, with Hazard and Juan Mata undoubtedly two of the three behind Torres. The capture of Marko Marin from Werder Bremen offers further indication of the club’s intentions to move away from a more physical approach and place their faith in diminutive, ball-playing creators, but Marin is far from the type of marquee signing Abramovich seems to salivate over – reports of a move for long-term target Hulk from FC Porto are gaining momentum as the club look to overhaul their frontline options.
At the moment, then, the only certainty is that Hazard will get game time, and plenty of it. From a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, he’s likely to come in around the 9.5 mark – the same price tag Mata was handed in his debut campaign last time round. What will be crucial, though, is his classification; former team mate Gervinho (who also played in the Lille front three) was labelled as a forward by FPL last season upon his arrival at Arsenal – will Hazard be looked upon similarly? At present, only Torres, Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku are our up front Fantasy options, though you get the feeling that Abramovich is far from finished his summer shopping.
While Hazard’s acquisition will hand Fantasy managers a selection headache as they assess the Blues attacking options, there seems little doubt he has the potential to provide us with an explosive Fantasy option for the season ahead, as the Champions League winners look to improve upon last season’s paltry sixth place finish.
