Chelsea sold one of their best players three summers ago. For the return of £100 million, they cashed in a player who had performed at a level maybe never before seen at Stamford Bridge. Even now, it seems to be a wise commercial decision.
The Blues lost a player who, on average, created a goal every 94 minutes and had been a part of 49 percent of their league-season goals. With Didier Drogba's 29 Premier League goals, Frank Lampard's 20 goals from midfield, and a lot of Gianfranco Zola magic, it was perhaps the finest season ever for a single Chelsea player.
It was sometimes a one-man show. A gem of blue, effortlessly gliding over the field with elegance because he could and not because he had to.
The fact that this player was Eden Hazard won't come as a surprise to the readers. The erratic star of Chelsea. By combining all of his greatest qualities into one dazzling personal effort, he dazzled the Premier League. finally reaching the record numbers that critics and fans had hoped for.
Hazard's farewell present had an air of arrogance about it as if to say, "Oh if I must prove to you that I am this excellent." Despite Maurizio Sarri's mostly forgettable first season in command, it was enjoyable to watch and unstoppable.
During the 2018–19 season, an English winger was compiling his own impressive set of stats as Manchester City was on their way to winning 32 of their first 38 league games. That season, Raheem Sterling, who would shortly join Chelsea, outscored Hazard with 17 goals and added nine assists.
Everyone could see that Hazard was at the top of his game. A level he had never reached before and one he hasn't even tried to search for since. In reality, Hazard has only scored four goals and sent out six assists in three seasons since joining Real Madrid, which is less than one-third of the goal contributions he made for the Blues in his last season in England.
Hazard began that campaign at the same age Sterling is currently joining Chelsea—27. Their statistics show the influence Sterling has had in Manchester, despite a little decline in productivity, since Hazard joined as a gifted 21-year-old from Lille in 2012/13. For a timeline, Sterling scored his first two league goals for Liverpool that season at the age of 17, and he didn't turn 21 until the 2016–17 campaign.
The two have both scored 85 goals within that period, which is a result of their stats being so comparable. While Hazard was the star performer for Chelsea in two championship victories and emerged as the stud of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte's exquisite diamonds, Sterling has been a lesser but no less significant component of a rampaging City engine.
Some Chelsea supporters are unconvinced by the vice-captain of England's acquisition despite his impressive record of goals, assists, and championships. One of his finishing skills is a problem, but when compared to Hazard's Premier League shooting statistics, they are once again similar.
Sterling does take more shots than Hazard did since the Belgian generally waits until he is certain of his opportunity to score before firing, but the two players have virtually identical percentages of shots that are on target: 41.7 percent for Sterling and 44.7 percent for Hazard.
In a similar vein, Hazard has more shots per 90 than Sterling (2.63 vs. 2.54). Hazard took slightly more shots (1.04), compared to Sterling's 1.02 shots per goal. Additionally, Sterling has a worse shots-to-goals ratio. The argument that is often made in this situation is that Manchester City consistently creates more chances than both Thomas Tuchel's current team and Chelsea did at the time. While this is true, Sterling is also shooting from a better position today than he was before, as seen by the fact that his current average xG per shot is greater than it has ever been in his career.
Although statistics can't capture the way the Belgian would sneak through defenders to create space and possibilities that weren't there before, Sterling's ingenuity is on a level with Hazard's. However, the Englishman has a far higher total of shot-creating activities during this time frame. Making 570 for teammates as opposed to Hazard's 388.
Although this is affected by club variations, shifting play styles, and teammates' movements, Sterling is still putting up stats that are on par with one of the league's top wingers in recent memory.
The sheer amount of miles on Chelsea's target's legs has prompted one last word of warning. This is particularly important when discussing Hazard. The Belgian played for Chelsea for seven seasons and missed only 21 games due to injury. He has missed 72 games over three seasons since relocating to Spain.
Sterling has only missed 25 club games since 2012 and has been present for every game since January 2021. The primary problem here is that there is concern that Sterling is about to enter a phase of his career that might harm his body permanently.
Sterling has been fouled 331 times since turning 21—the same amount that Hazard was fouled at Chelsea. Hazard's foul total was often a matter of fascination, earning him the title of most fouled player, along with Sterling's colleague Jack Grealish.
This brings up the issue that Sterling could only need one injury to spend an extended amount of time on the sidelines, and with a five-year contract believed to be on the table, keeping him at Chelsea until he reaches 32, Tuchel isn't particularly interested in an injury-prone player.
With a winter World Cup to consider as well, Sterling's total of 24,142 minutes played throughout a 10-year Premier League career raises some questions about how much longer his body can withstand the constant fouls and demands of an ever-intensifying schedule, despite playing more than 2,000 fewer minutes than Hazard since turning 21.
In the end, none of these factors indicate that Sterling will surpass Hazard's 31 goal contributions in 18/19, but despite all the issues with his play style and performance, the 27-year-old has been overlooked in comparison to Chelsea's former winger.
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