After months and months of speculation, Eden Hazard officially completed his move to Real Madrid on Friday. An announcement arrived over weekend confirming that the Belgian is the club’s latest Galactico.
For Los Blancos fans, the saga finally came to an end. For Chelsea fans, the nightmare of seeing their star player leave became a reality. Nonetheless, after spending seven years in London, the 28-year-old made sure to bid farewell to the Blues fans.
The former Lille sensation penned an open letter to the Premier League side and their supporters after calling the curtains on his time at Stamford Bridge. Hazard made sure to pay tribute to everyone at the team, from the staff, to his team-mates (past and current), to Abramovich on the club's official website.
“To my Chelsea friends and family,” the statement from the player begun.
“You now know that I will be joining Real Madrid. It’s no secret that it was my dream to play for them since I was a young boy just scoring my first goal. I have tried my very best not to distract myself or the team through this difficult period of speculation and media attention, especially the last 6 months.
“Now the Clubs have reached an agreement I hope you understand I had to pursue my next chapter, just as each and every one of you should when you have the chance to pursue your dreams. Leaving Chelsea is the biggest and toughest decision in my career to date. Now it’s in the open I would like to put on record one thing was always clear to me, I have loved every moment at Chelsea and not once did I ever consider, nor would I have left for any other Club.”
He added: “Before I go, one last thank you to everyone at the Club for their tremendous effort as we lived through every moment. To all of my ex-Colleagues we will say our goodbyes at the right time but I must thank the owner Mr Abramovich and his board for helping me realise not one, but two dreams, my first in becoming a Chelsea player and today my second, becoming a player at Real Madrid.
“I wish each and every one of you the very best my friends.”
The 28-year-old became an instant hit since joining Chelsea, going on to rack up 352 appearances and 110 goals en route to six titles. The most recent silverware was a lovely parting gift to the London giant, guiding Sarri’s men to the Europa League crown after scoring two goals in the 4-1 win over Arsenal in Baku.
Eden will finally achieve his dream of playing for Real Madrid under Zinedine Zidane once the 2019/20 season kicks off. He is the Spanish giant’s fourth signing this window as they aim to rebuild their squad after last season’s debacle.
