Eden Hazard will return to Chelsea with a taste for playing with teammates of similar quality and ambition as himself, let alone whatever success Belgium ultimately achieves. Chelsea are in no position to satisfy him on these factors.
Chelsea’s biggest risk at the World Cup is not players getting injured or moving their transfer value in either direction. Their risk is Eden Hazard recognizing that he belongs on a team like Belgium’s Red Devils more than the one currently at Chelsea FC.
Hazard’s performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals somehow exceeded his performance against Japan in the round of 16. In neither game did Hazard go it alone, nor did he have to. His level was both a cause and effect of what his teammates did. As went Eden Hazard, so went Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois – and vice versa. On their current form, and given the World Cup bracket, the semifinal against France could effectively be the title match.
Eden Hazard will return to Chelsea in a few weeks with Courtois and Michy Batshuayi. Not only will he no longer be with the rest of the Belgians, he will not be around players like them. Hazard may justifiably feel a man apart at Stamford Bridge.
Kevin de Bruyne will certainly not have that problem. Romelu Lukaku will not (although what Jose Mourinho does with their talent and the club’s ambition is another question). Even the Tottenham contingent may still feel at home. Their team was at least built with a purpose, even if their club culture has prevented it from achieving anything tangible.
The culture of the club and the attitude of the players may be Hazard’s breaking point at Chelsea. Now that he knows what it is like to play on a team like Belgium, he will not be satisfied with anything less. Nor should he be. After everything Belgium have proved themselves to be in Russia, how could Hazard content himself with a club that has no such identity, no clear ambitions and only a few players approaching those levels? Chelsea could easily lose Eden Hazard not because of money, but because of ambition.
If Chelsea want Eden Hazard to stay, they need to prove to him that he can replicate the success he is enjoying at the World Cup. The club will need to put players around him so he is not single-handedly carrying Chelsea through the big games, wondering where everyone else went when things go awry. Hazard is leading Belgium precisely because he does not have to play the solo starring role. The Blues need to bring in players who can match both his talent and his drive, players who not only want to share his burden but are capable of carrying it. Players like, for example, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne, who were once… oh well, you know.
Of course, to bring in players like that Chelsea need to convince those players to come to Stamford Bridge. The Blues, though, do not have their house in any sort of order. The current coaching absurdity, the lack of a technical director and the lingering presence of disrespectful malcontents will not attract any player of the sort described above. No player of Eden Hazard’s level could look at Chelsea in their present state and say “That is where I will fulfill my potential and have a satisfying career.”
Even without Zinedine Zidane and (potentially) Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid could still lure Eden Hazard away. They have the players, they have the ambition and they have the vision. Any of the mega-clubs and even a few off the cusp could credibly promise Hazard a re-creation of his summer with Belgium.
Eden Hazard is playing on the team he deserves, and with them he outlasted Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and slew Neymar in the head-to-head duel. Kylian Mbappe awaits.
Next: France showing what else they can do with Olivier Giroud
Unfortunately, the fiasco of west London lies just ahead. Players in all sports can struggle with the season after a major victory. Hazard’s come-down could be even worse when he takes stock of what he’s returning to at Chelsea. Knowing what the alternative is like, he may have little desire to endure much more.