The Belgian attacker ended the season with four goals in Chelsea’s last five matches to suggest he is over his previous dismal run of form.
Eden Hazard, Belgium – faces Italy, Republic of Ireland and Sweden in Group E
HITC Sport writers have compiled a list of the top 50 stars at Euro 2016, assessing players from across the 24 countries taking part at this summer’s tournament.
Coming in at number 16 is Chelsea winger Eden Hazard, who’ll be hoping to make up for a disastrous season with the Blues by skippering Belgium to success in France.
The top players at Euro 2016 1-50: Read the entire list
International record: 62 caps, 12 goals since 2008
2015-16: After being crowned the PFA Player of the Year in 2015, this past season was supposed to be when Hazard put himself on par with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez as one of the world’s best players. Instead, he fell spectacularly short, enduring a huge hip in form while being plagued by a hip problem.
The 25-year-old attacker failed to score in 26 Premier League appearances before netting a brace in last month’s 4-1 win at Bournemouth and drew criticism in February when he admitted that it would “be difficult to say no” to a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Recent reports have claimed that he is committed to staying with the club this summer [h/t Daily Mail], but with no Champions League at Stamford Bridge next season, questions about his future are inevitable.
| Premier League | Season | Goals | Assists | Key Passes | Passing Accuracy | Total Dribbles | Dribble Accuracy | Appearances | Mins Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Hazard | 2014-2015 | 14 | 9 | 100 | 87% | 280 | 61.22 | 38 | 3,372 |
| Eden Hazard | 2015-2016 | 4 | 3 | 66 | 86% | 144 | 58.94 | 31 | 2,190 |
What can we expect?
No matter how terrible he performed over the last nine months, Hazard was always going to be central to Belgium’s plans at the Euros. The former Lille midfielder is set to start in a strong attacking quartet alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Yannick Carrasco and former Chelsea teammate Romelu Lukaku and will even be captaining Marc Wilmots’ side in the absence of the injured Vincent Kompany.
Encouragingly, he also seemed to be regaining some form during the Premier League run-in, ending the campaign with four goals in his last five matches to suggest that he is going into the tournament fully fit and ready to lead Les Diables Rouges to glory.
Should he perform to his best, incoming Blues boss Antonio Conte may find it much harder to keep him in west London for another season.
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