Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hailed Eden Hazard as the deserving winner of this season’s Premier League player of the year award, according to the Sun.
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The Belgian winger has been in superb form for the table-topping Blues, though it could just as easily be claimed that at least four other of the club’s players are just as strong contenders.
Hazard won young player of the year last season, but Mourinho says he is now aiming higher, saying: “When he won that award it was not a big thing for him. He was not particularly emotional because he doesn’t want to be the best young player.
“He wants to be the best player of the year. He wants to be the best, to improve his game, score more goals.”
While there’s no disputing Hazard is a serious contender – would he really be able to shine as brightly in a team without the likes of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Oscar? Defenders don’t get the credit they deserve, and John Terry could even be an outsider for the prize after a tremendous campaign.
Many expected that Hazard would really step up and stand out as the best player in the league this season after Luis Suarez’s departure to Barcelona, but in truth he hasn’t quite improved as much as expected, and is still some way from being at that truly special level that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo have been for their clubs before.