Eden Hazard
Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho insists Eden Hazard must help the club win more
titles if he is to join the ranks of their greatest players.
Hazard’s value to Mourinho’s side will be confirmed when he puts pen to paper on a lucrative new five-year contract.
The Belgian international, signed for
£32 million (40.8m euros, $50m) from Lille in 2012, was criticised by
his manager towards the end of last season when Chelsea fell short in
their challenge for honours.
But the 23-year-old has responded this
season with a string of impressive performances that have seen the
winger touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner and seen him linked with a
move to Real Madrid.
Mourinho
is in no doubt about the player’s potential, but says Hazard’s future
status at Stamford Bridge will be determined by the success he delivers
on the pitch.
The manager said, “He needs to win titles, because titles make players historic.
“I don’t know players who are considered
legends in clubs without winning titles. He has to do that. But the
potential everybody knows.”
Hazard was already contracted to Chelsea
until 2017 but Mourinho had no doubt the player would commit his
long-term future to the London club.
He added: “I was never worried about it, since the moment I met his father.
“Everything was very clear about their
intentions and their happiness to stay at Chelsea. After that, it
becomes a numbers situation.
“When it becomes a number situation I’m
more than happy to be out, but my club always told me that the situation
would finish with a new contract. So I was never worried about that.”
Hazard has helped Chelsea establish a
three-point lead at the head of the Premier League table going into the
latest round of matches.
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