Hazard sets Premier League title target for next season

Eden Hazard knows that he cannot win the Champions League next season, at least not with Chelsea, so he’s set his sights on the next best thing: the Premier League. Manchester City will of course not be easy to dethrone, but buoyed by Chelsea’s excellent win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final, the Blues’ talisman set his target for 2018-19 boldly and clearly.

“We will be ready next season.

“I think all of the players and the club want one thing and that’s to win the title. Of course we will see if we can bring in some new players. But we will be focused on winning the title, that’s it.

“If City keep playing like this, it is going to be hard, but you never know in football. It is always hard to win the League one season and then win it again the next year. Can winning the FA Cup in the last game be taken into the start of next season? Yes, of course.

“Some of us are playing in the World Cup but we need the mentality we showed against Manchester United for next season. Okay we don’t play in the Champions League but last year we didn’t play in it and won the League.”

I guess he’s staying then, unless he’s planning on winning the Premier League with Real Madrid.

“I am at Chelsea and have two years left on my contract. It is what I have been saying every week. Yes, I am focused on the World Cup now and then we will see.”

Eden will probably have to continue saying it until he signs that new contract.

That said, Hazard’s recent quotes all point towards staying with the club, with or without Conte in charge (though likely the latter), so even if the rumors continue to swirl, we can largely continue to ignore them, just as we’ve done for the past six years.

In fact, Hazard was in such a good mood after winning the FA Cup, he even paid tribute to Chelsea’s defensive efforts! Somewhere, deep down inside, Conte was smiling, too.

“It’s a good feeling, especially as we lost the final to Arsenal last year. You saw the celebrations, this trophy means a lot to them and to us.”

[...]

“When we play together and defend together, this [beating United] is what happens. It is what we did against Liverpool [1-0 win this month] and even in the first half against Tottenham — we lost at the end [3-1] but the first half was perfect.

“The first half against United [in the 2-1 League defeat in February] was perfect. But at the end we made some mistakes and lost the game. We know we have good enough players and that when we want to play altogether, we can win a lot of games.”

-Eden Hazard; source: Evening Standard

So say we all.