Chelsea legend Eden Hazard announced his retirement from football earlier today and he will surely go down as a Premier League great.
During his time in the English top flight, he made 245 appearances, scored 85 goals and provided 54 assists, according to the division’s official website.
Sixteen of those goals and 15 of those assists came in the 2018/19 Premier League season, which is quite significant. As per OptaJoe, that campaign saw Eden Hazard join Thierry Henry, Matt Le Tissier and Eric Cantona as the only players in Premier League history to score 15+ goals and provide 15+ assists in a single season.
Chelsea did not have much to show for it, with the Blues unable to keep up with Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race.
The team, managed by Maurizio Sarri at the time, finished third and 26 points behind Pep Guardiola’s men in first.
But statistically, it was Hazard’s best ever campaign in the Premier League and if that Chelsea side were as good as Antonio Conte’s one, which won the title in 2017, perhaps the Belgian could have led them to the top of the table.
However, it was not a disastrous season, with Chelsea still managing to win the Europa League after beating London rivals Arsenal 4-1 in the final. And at the heart of the victory, none other than Hazard, who scored two goals in his last ever appearance in blue.
There is no denying, then, that Hazard is one of the greatest players that the Premier League has ever seen.
