Eden Hazard is said to have left the King Power Stadium in significant pain after walking off the pitch during Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Monday evening.
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The Belgian was left clutching his hip after what appeared to be an innocuous challenge from Jamie Vardy – one of Leicester’s two goalscorers in a win which sent them top of the Premier League.
Jose Mourinho asked Hazard to continue, but the 24-year-old decided that he could not continue 10 seconds upon returning to the pitch in the 31st minute.
According to the Daily Mail, last season’s PFA Player of the Year was still in “major discomfort” after the game. He will be assessed by Chelsea’s medical staff today.
Mourinho suggested that Hazard must have had a “serious injury” to opt to substitute himself, but did not seem convinced by his efforts to play through the pain.
He told Sky Sports: “In 10 seconds he made the decision himself. It must be a serious injury because he left the pitch straight away. He made the decision he wasn’t in the position to play, so it must be important.
“His first reaction was ‘I can’t’. I was going to make the change. His second reaction was ‘I want to try’, but his first steps on the pitch he immediately says ‘I can’t do it’, so it was him in a few seconds that he had three different perspectives.”
Hazard has yet to score in the Premier League this season – he managed 14 last term. Is it possible that the off-colour playmaker was exaggerating his injury to get out of the firing line?
Only time will tell, but Hazard’s future at Stamford Bridge does seem to be up in the air. The Guardian has linked him with a massive transfer to Real Madrid with James Rodriguez coming the other way.
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