Eden Hazard, the wizard of Chelsea Waltz, hopes to have one last dance | Soccer

EDen Hazard's plan was still to leave with a flourish. It was obvious even when the situation was the most difficult, just over three years ago, when the new Chelsea head coach went to Cobham. Antonio Conte, still director of the Italian national team, was to take over the reins of Stamford Bridge only after the European Summer Championship, but he had planned to play the role and rebadure a stellar player sick.

Hazard was rooted in the first prolonged collapse in the form of a seven-year senior career. He had suffered 28 scoreless league games, joining goal against Crystal Palace, who had won the title in May of the previous year. A persistent hip injury had dulled the Belgian in José Mourinho's second stint and, behind the desperately lagging behind the top four, a player who had never hidden his desire to play for Real Madrid n & # 39; 39 had nothing to envy to the season without the prestige of football in the Champions League.

Conté knew that he was inheriting from a kneeling team and felt compelled to convince the talismanic attacker that his arrival would be back, his pbadionate sales pitch centered on the free role that Hazard would play in 3-4-3. In fact, all the fears of the Italian were misplaced. "I made it clear to him that I did not intend to leave after such a mediocre year," he was going to wait eight months after the meeting. "I did not want to go out like this. If I leave one day, it will be after winning a title. You must stand out so that people will remember you for the right reasons. This strategy has not faltered since.

The separation of means could have occurred in the summer of 2017, when Chelsea, from Conte, was crowned champion. The player wanted to leave in 2018, implying publicly in St. Petersburg that it may be time to move forward, after Belgium's victory in the third match of the World Cup against England. He helped his club qualify for the FA Cup, winning and converting the penalty to beat Manchester United Mourinho, despite the discord that prevailed in the last months of the mandate of Conté.

Now, however, all parties seem to agree that an amicable divorce is imminent. In the final of the Europa League on Wednesday, facing Baku by an Arsenal team he has regularly scored during his seven years in England, Hazard has the opportunity to fulfill his commitment and sign with another trophy. An amount has yet to be agreed with Real, suitors whose interest is relentless even though they are rarely justified by offers. But even with a two-window transfer ban above Chelsea, the possibility of raising 100 million pounds for a player who is worthless next summer can not be ignored.

The exit of a darling member by key members of the club hierarchy will be sanctioned only reluctantly. Their relationship started with a tweet. Well, actually, it had actually started with months of mischievous allusions to his favorite destination while the cream of the Premier League surrounded a player who had excelled in Ligue 1 with Lille. The sight of Chelsea winning the Champions League made a difference. "I sign for the champion [sic] "League winner" tweeted in the evening of May 28, 2012, nine days after the barrage victory against Bayern in Munich, has only confirmed the most poorly kept secret of the summer, namely £ 32 million.

In hindsight, it was a good year for a recruiting service that had won a contract with Gary Cahill and Kevin De Bruyne from Genk in Bolton in January, to which he would add Hazard and César Azpilicueta at the peak. It is easy to forgive the strange Marko Marin in this context.

The wave of new talent reflected the feeling that a great team – Didier Drogba and John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic – had reached its peak at the Allianz Arena. Stalwarts was approaching the twilight of brilliant quarries, the separation of the first team of Mourinho being well engaged. It was time for a new breed to establish itself. Since then, Diego Costa and David Luiz print their characters to this club. The constant excellence of Azpilicueta has yet to warm even those who were spying on him in Marseille. N'Golo Kanté is also praised for its diligent impact. Yet, all who came and went sought inspiration in Hazard.

He was an integral part of all the trophies won – the two league titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup – with the exception of the Europa League in 2013, while his first season in English football had been prematurely interrupted by an injury. When he dazzled, especially under Mourinho in 2014-15 and Conte in 2016-17, the collective appeared irresistible. He won the player and player of the year title in 2015 after his first league triumph.

He has illuminated opportunities with his familiar look, elusive darts and tight velcro control, with a series of goals that will delight a generation of club support. Lampard considers him "one of the great players in Chelsea's history". He is certainly closest to a Roman Gianfranco Zola from Abramovich, and the Italian recognizes that Hazard may have overshadowed his abilities.

The winner of the title against Palace four years ago was disconcerting, but many were unforgettable. He scored the goal that secured the league Leicester the following year, which gave Tottenham the advantage of returning to the Stamford Bridge chasm. "I said at his signing that he would be the biggest player in the club, and I'm sticking to that," said Joe Cole, who has already been a teammate in Lille. "He's the best I've ever worked with."

Even Cole would have enjoyed the wonderful waltz in the ranks of West Ham last month, though Hazard's best goal was probably looted from Arsenal at happier times under Conte. He took up the challenges at will in this sprint. The memory of Francis Coquelin who collapsed unfortunatly failed after failing in his attempt to get the Belgian out of the ball.

This ability to humiliate has led to approximate reprisals. Attempts to bring it down by any means have been a recurring theme. Gary Caldwell, of Wigan, had 11 minutes to say that the newcomer during his debut in the fall of 2012 – the first brutal tackle to quell his threat – had already created the two goals of Hazard. He has become accustomed to pbading the torch after the matches. The 28-year-old has been fouled 638 times in the Premier League – once every half hour or every 26 hits of the ball – and yet only Azpilicueta, one of the other field players in the division, has played more high-flying games for the past seven years. It is durable, too.

Some will still wonder if they could have seen more. It has matured on the part of the young man who has already hit a ball player with frustration or lost his place after coming home late from Belgium after misplacing his pbadport. Still, it is telling that the six senior coaches he worked with have hinted that he could potentially reach the level of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Even Maurizio Sarri has platitudes mixed with discussions about the potential. Most welcomed his best attack, when he had the freedom of speech, to suggest criticizing a lack of defense when the results deteriorated.

The player was never really interested in these stays as fake # 9 and was disturbed in the last days of Conte's stewardship when he felt restrained. The tendency for coaches to return to a more conservative style when the team suffered a slowdown in results would leave him chained. He admitted this year that he finally "frustrated all my managers – Mourinho, Conte, now Sarri – and I would also frustrate my next manager." It will likely be Zinedine Zidane.

But despite all the flirts with Real, Hazard has always been a favorite. Chelsea never panicked after these remarks in St. Petersburg, fearing a growl or a strike if he had not secured his move. Thibaut Courtois is gone. His compatriot made his comeback in pre-season and, once at top speed, had eight goals to his name in early October. He was settled in Cobham with his young family, enjoying the quiet life in the community. It's just that now he feels the time has come for a new challenge. We will miss him.