Eden Hazard has agreed a new five-and-a-half-year deal at Chelsea that will see him remain with the west London outfit until the summer of 2021. Chelsea announced the deal on Thursday and captured a quick video of him signing:
Eden Hazard has today signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea.
The club’s Player of the Year has continued his excellent form this season, scoring 13 times in 36 appearances and helping us to the top of the Barclays Premier League.
'I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea,' Hazard said. 'Since I came here in 2012 I have always felt good and the club has been very supportive to me.
'The manager has helped me improve a lot, the fans have been fantastic and I have an amazing understanding with my team-mates.
'I always try to give pleasure to the supporters with my style of play and it is nice to know they appreciate my work.
'I hope we can repay that support by winning lots of trophies, beginning with the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and after that, we can push hard towards the end of the season.'
Chelsea FC @ChelseaFC.@hazardeden10 signing his new contract earlier today... #CFC
Manager Jose Mourinho discussed the deal, according to the official announcement: "I am very happy that Eden has signed a new contract. It shows he believes in the club’s coaching staff and players to help him become the best player in the world. He is already a top player and his evolution has been fantastic. He is still very young and he can become the best."
The extension puts to bed any rumours which were linking Hazard with a potential exit from Stamford Bridge, having understandably courted attention from some of Europe's titans recently.
Following Hazard's rise to becoming one of the world's most respected attackers, Mourinho recently spoke of why he feared his winger could leave the west London outfit, per Charles Perrin of the Daily Express:
People [are] in love with football in this country; people must be in love with Eden Hazard. The way, match after match, he's being punished by opponents and he's not being protected by referees, maybe one day we won't have Eden Hazard.
It's one, two, three, four, five, 10 aggressive fouls against him. They kick and kick and kick, and the kid resists. He's a very honest guy in the way he plays, but that's another problem.
As Perrin notes, Mourinho's words came in relation to recent claims that Chelsea were perhaps hard done by when it's come to potential penalty claims this season.
However, Hazard will stick around to toughen it out, though, and Squawka shows just what a pivotal scoring force he's been for the club since arriving on English shores:
Squawka Football @SquawkaSince Eden Hazard joined Chelsea he's scored 31 goals in the Premier League. No player has scored more for the club in that time. #CFC
With some of the world's biggest sides sniffing around his services, Hazard will have undoubtedly contemplated all of his options before putting pen to paper on the new terms.
However, Chelsea have seemingly found a place in the dynamo's heart after Hazard was quoted by the Daily Mirror's Martin Lipton in November, saying Chelsea are the "club of his dreams":
Chelsea was my first choice when I left Lille (in 2012). Today I know it was the right decision for me. I am very happy at Chelsea. I made the choice to join Chelsea because I knew I was going to play. This is my third year here. I don't know if I'm the main asset of the team, but I can take pleasure by playing in this team.
Is there a club that makes me dream? Yes, Chelsea. They are the only club that makes me dream. We have played against all the big teams and we are in first place. I hope that we can stay there. Now I think about the future, not the past, so I have no nostalgia when I watch Ligue 1.
Of course I know that PSG have huge players, but Chelsea have more experience and more players in certain positions. And we also have a better experience in the Champions League.
It's the kind of comment a supporter loves to hear as one of Chelsea's biggest stars states his love for the club, knowing all too well the temptations that may await him on other shores.
As his status in west London has grown, so too have Hazard's own ambitions, once again featuring prominently under Mourinho in leading the Blues into pole position for this season's Premier League title.
The arrival of stars such as Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas may see the spotlight glean away from Hazard somewhat, but this announcement confirms the winger will remain among Chelsea's most prized possessions.
But after a slower start and new faces fully integrated into the team, Hazard sticks out as sorely as ever as a primary weapon in Mourinho's arsenal.
The Blues could have acquired his talents for a lot less, too, after Bleacher Report's Duncan Castles revealed in January that the wing wizard could have been signed from Lille at 16 for as little as £100,000.
The former Lille attacker arrived in England two-and-a-half years ago for a fee in the region of £32 million and took to the Premier League with relative comfort, as he has been voted into the PFA Team of the Year for the past two successive seasons.
He also won Chelsea's Player of the Year award last term, outlining the impact he brings to the squad—an impact Mourinho will hope can only improve across the next five-and-a-half years.
