Eden Hazard has explained his decision to stay at Chelsea this summer,with the playmaker preferring to depart as a champion.
The Blues’ No.10 won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2014/15, guiding Chelsea to the title while creating a Premier League-high 99 chances.
That spectacular form ground to a halt last term though, as he went through 37 games across the Premier League and Champions League without a goal.
Hazard’s commitment was questioned by fans, he struggled to maintain full fitness, and his spectacular ability alluded him for much of Chelsea’s awful campaign under Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink.
The attacking midfielder, who earns a reported £200,000-per-week, insists he chose not to bow out of Stamford Bridge on a sour note this summer, suggesting there was an opportunity to leave.
He said, as reported by the Telegraph: “I want to be the best, like I was two seasons ago. I wanted to stay at Chelsea because I didn’t want to finish like this.
“I played a very bad season. We didn’t start the season well because of injuries and everything seemed to go against Chelsea. It wasn’t easy and wasn’t a good season. We want to forget it.
“When I was in France [with Lille], I finished my last game with a hat-trick and that was a good time to leave. If I must leave [Chelsea] one day, I hope I can finish good here and be a champion again.”
After struggling immensely for much of the season, Hazard found the goal four times in the final five matches of last term, before captaining Belgium at Euro 2016.
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