Chelsea what ifs: Eden Hazard departs the Blues earlier in his career

Eden Hazard attracted interest abroad almost immediately, but what would Chelsea have looked like had the Belgian left sooner than he did?

Chelsea signing Eden Hazard in the summer of 2012 was a bit of a coup at the time. The Belgian stayed at Chelsea for seven fantastic years before finally following his dream of playing for Real Madrid.

Rumors never ceased around Hazard though. Virtually right away, Hazard was linked with moves to Real Madrid or Paris Saint Germain. Chelsea held off for as long as they could before it became clear it was now or never for the Belgian to go to his dream club and for Chelsea to still get a transfer fee.

But what would have happened had Hazard left sooner? The 2016 and 2018 summer seem like the two most likely points where he could have left but did not, so what would a Chelsea minus Hazard have looked like before Frank Lampard and the youth revolution?

The summer after the 2015/2016 season seems the first likely point because of how terrible that year went and how enthused Hazard seemed throughout (injury aside). He did turn up to win Leicester City the title, but for the most part that season it felt like he had his mind elsewhere.

Had Antonio Conte come in without Hazard, it is likely the 2016/2017 season would have been more valiant effort than dominant title win. The tactics carried Chelsea through the winter, but by Spring Chelsea needed Hazard to drag them over the line. Conte likely would have gone trophyless that first season and the struggles the next season would have been no different than they were in reality.

The other jumping off point for Hazard was the summer of 2018 after the World Cup. Real Madrid already snapped away Thibaut Courtois that summer and by all accounts Hazard was strongly considering the same. Hazard opted to stay for one more year as Courtois decided to go off in all the wrong ways.

It is likely that Hazard would have remained more professional in his departure than Courtois had he left that summer as well. The price Chelsea got for him in reality would likely pale in comparison to the price they Blues could have gotten just one summer before.

And honestly, that may have worked out better for Maurizio Sarri. Sarri’s system is incredibly methodical and individuals, no matter how brilliant they may be, are at least blamed for holding it back. Without Hazard, Sarri would have had more players to put into his rigid system without worrying about individualism.

But Chelsea was bailed out often last season by the Belgian’s brilliance outside the confines of the system. Hazard had by and far the most goals and the most assists. Sarri may have been more pleased with his vision, but overall it is hard to see the club getting top four last year without Hazard dragging the Blues over the line.

On a different note, it is also hard to see Hazard succeeding at Real Madrid had he left at that first exit point in 2016. He would have simply lived in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo. Had he gone in 2018, then he likely would have seen the opposite of that and of his current time in Madrid. Maybe nothing saves Julen Lopetegui, but Hazard would have added something that went missing without Ronaldo.

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