Eden Hazard has been named the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, to add to the honour he was given by his fellow professionals last month.
There have been a number of impressive performers as Chelsea have won a first league title since 2010, but none more so than the Belgian international. Hazard has made 50 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, scoring 19 times and assisting in 12 more, which led to him being voted Player of the Year by his peers at the Professional Football Association in April.
And the 24-year-old has now added the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) version to his name, pipping Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane and Chelsea pal John Terry to the award. This announcement is hardly a surprise due to the way the forward has played this season, and FWA chairman Andy Dunn explained how the votes were distributed amongst his fellow journalists.
“53 per cent voted for Hazard,” he told Sky Sports. “There was a late groundswell of support for John Terry after his performances in recent weeks, and our members were also captivated by the Harry Kane story. But the majority looked at Eden Hazard’s contribution to Chelsea’s title-winning season – magnificent as it was – and decided he was the pivotal man.”
Hazard now has an extraordinary record of individual honours to his name, dating back to his time in France with Lille where he won Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010 before winning the senior equivalent in 2011 and 2012. He then moved to Chelsea for £32million, and has won the PFA Young Player of the Year last season before his double this term.
Can Eden Hazard now be considered as one of the best footballers in the world, and do you think he will spend the majority of the rest of his career at Chelsea?
