Once a Blue, always a Blue. Eden Hazard has been away from Chelsea for four and a half years, but his ties to the club run much deeper than just playing football.
The Belgian, who announced his retirement at the age of just 32 last summer, remains one of Stamford Bridge's favoured sons. With seven years of genius on show at SW6 and across the Premier League, memories of his time at the club are not going away any time soon.
And for Hazard, who enjoyed the best of his career in west London, the feeling is mutual. He continues to gleam and joke when speaking about his former club, bringing a smile to those who largely let slide his un-modern methods of preparation for matches in the knowledge that he had saved the magic for kick-off.
Things have taken a turn since his exit though, and in truth, the slow erosion of Old Chelsea into the current form started in the final years of Hazard's spell anyway. That hasn't stopped his passion from running high.
When asked about the team's state at the moment by former teammate John Obi Mikel, on his The Obi One Podcast, Hazard was in good form. «My second son, Leo, is a Chelsea fan — but crazy!» he said. «He has a Christopher Nkunku shirt now and is waiting for him to come back onto the pitch!»
Hazard added on the team, «They have a good manager, I love Pochettino, I think he’s the guy who can bring the team back to where they should be.”
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