In the week Eden Hazard will make his first appearance for Chelsea Legends, we revisit the shirt he wore in his last league game for the Blues, which now sits proudly in our museum…
As the 2018/19 season drew to a close, there were two main talking points at Stamford Bridge: the impending Europa League final against Arsenal, and Eden Hazard’s future.
The Belgian had been strongly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge during his seventh year as a Blue. A transfer to Real Madrid felt increasingly likely - although there was no official confirmation yet.
On 12 May 2019, Chelsea travelled to the King Power Stadium to play Leicester City in our final league fixture of the campaign. A top-four finish was already secured, although we could be overtaken by Tottenham – hosting Everton – if they bettered our result against the Foxes.
On the eve of the game, Hazard claimed an unprecedented clean sweep at the Chelsea Awards, winning the Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Goal of the Season prizes. Nobody has won all three awards in the same year before or since.
It was a record fourth time Hazard picked up the main prize – voted for by Chelsea supporters – and many regarded this campaign as his best in blue. A joy to watch with his dazzling skill and turn of pace, no player brought the supporters to their feet as often as Hazard. They chose his solo goal at Anfield in the League Cup as his standout moment.
The 28-year-old was mostly deployed on the left side of our attack but he did also, on occasion, lead the line. Even by his high standards his individual displays that season were something extra special. No Chelsea player scored more goals (19) or registered more assists (16) than him, and he also led the way for successful dribbles, chances created, and touches in the opposition box.
Indeed, across the whole of the Premier League, Hazard was involved in more goals (16 goals, 15 assists) than anyone else. No surprise, then, the reigning European champions were after him.
It was also not a surprise when Maurizio Sarri opted to start Hazard on the bench for the Leicester game. There was little on the line besides pride and positional prize money, and a much more important contest was two-and-a-half weeks away: Arsenal in Baku in the Europa League final.
Chelsea donned that season’s change strip, a pleasing yellow number, in the East Midlands. What followed was a forgettable goalless draw. Ross Barkley and Gonzalo Higuain missed our best openings, while Youri Tielemans went closest for the Foxes.
While the home supporters were bidding their farewells to 2016 title winners Shinji Okazaki and Danny Simpson, for many travelling Chelsea fans it was the last time they would see Hazard in the flesh. He came on for the final 20 minutes, replacing Willian.
Despite not adding to his tally of goals and assists Hazard still finished as the Premier League’s Playmaker of the Season, with no other player able to overhaul his tally of 15 assists.
Speaking after the game at the King Power Stadium, Hazard was asked which has been his favourite assist and what he preferred, scoring or making goals.
‘I just prefer to win the game,’ he replied. ‘When I see the ball in the net I am just happy for the other player who has scored but I think the assist for Ruben Loftus-Cheek against Fulham is maybe one of the best.
‘I try to play my best football every season and I think this year I was a bit lucky to make so many assists,’ he added, ‘because when you make assists you need the other players to score goals.'
The Belgian was also asked about the acclaim he received from the Chelsea fans who were at the game. They sung his name loud and proud throughout.
‘It is a good story between us and that is why I give everything when I am on the pitch,’ he said.
‘We are the best team in London, I have no doubt about that. The league is so competitive it is hard to be in the top four but we have achieved this, we have worked very hard altogether during the season and we did a great job. We lost some games of course, we could do better, yes, but at the end the target is to be in the top four and we are.
‘It has been one of my best seasons in terms of goal contribution but you want to win collective trophies so we can go to Baku and win a trophy, and if we win a trophy and finish in the top four, it is a great season.’
Of course, Hazard’s future was never far from the spotlight. Sarri was asked in his post-match media duties if it was the last we had seen of him on English shores.
‘Eden has played seven years in England and done very well,’ Sarri replied.
'He has become one of the best players in the world but we have to respect him and his decision. I hope, like every Chelsea fan, that he will remain with us.’
Unfortunately, if not unsurprisingly, those wishes did not come to pass. Hazard knew he was Bernabeu-bound, but he gave Chelsea not one but two parting gifts.
The first was the shirt (pictured top) and boots (below) he wore that day at Leicester, which now take pride of place in the Chelsea Museum. ‘To my Chelsea family, this is for you!’ was the simple but heart-warming message he wrote on the shirt.
His second leaving present came in Baku, where he produced a devastating second-half performance – yet another assist, and two more goals – to guide us to Europa League glory over London rivals Arsenal. It was a fitting finale to a wonderful Chelsea career, and provided Hazard with a piece of silverware he more than anyone deserved at the conclusion of a very special season indeed.