A likeable Chelsea player? A man who played football with joy? For a few years there, Eden Hazard was the best in the Premier League.
This latest international break kicked off with the sad if not unsurprising news of Eden Hazard’s retirement at the age of 32 after years of injuries, which should not dim the light on an otherwise-brilliant career from one of the most talented and joyful players of his generation.
After making his first-team debut for the French club in late 2007, he soon became the star of the show in his first full season under new manager and now-Napoli gaffer Rudi Garcia , becoming the club’s youngest ever scorer and the first non-French player to win Ligue 1 young player of the year. All the leading lights in the Premier League were after him, and in a showcase of the growing influence of social media at the time, he famously announced on Twitter that he would be taking his talents to Chelsea a la Lebron James and ‘The Decision’, which took place two years before.
Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Robin van Persie and co. slowed down and retired, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale left for Spain, Mesut Ozil never hit the heights he did at Real, Harry Kane only ‘burst onto the scene’ in 2014, the same summer Alexis Sanchez joined Arsenal, while his one-time Chelsea teammates Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah returned to the league much later.
Both team and individual honours came, as well as several humorous moments such as him accidentally referring to Shrewsbury as ‘Strawberry’ before being given an impromptu pronunciation lesson by Geoff Shreeves.
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