Eden Hazard - Chelsea will struggle to keep the genius who still has more to give.

Having scored another wonder goal this week against Liverpool and being labelled as the best player in the Premier League, plenty has been said in recent days and some interesting points made by Cesc Fabregas and Maurizio Sarri. 

Being honest, if we had started this season without him and a move to Real Madrid confirmed I would not have been surprised. I don't think many of us would have been and to Chelsea's credit it never materialised. The only concern we had was how the player himself would have reacted and if it would affect his performances for the club. It's clear we didn't have to worry at all!

That's Eden Hazard all over though isn't it. He plays with a smile on his face, whenever you see clips of him around the club he is laughing and joking with everyone - he just loves football and most importantly of all, he seems to be really happy here with his family settled into life in England.

Now whether or not Real Madrid come calling again next summer is yet to be seen with some ideas that the Kovacic loan move to Chelsea was a sweetener to seal the deal. I would not be surprised but at the same time as Gianfranco Zola stated ahead of Liverpool on Wednesday, he can fulfil his potential here at Chelsea. Zola said:

"I don’t think, in my opinion, he’s reached his full potential.

I believe he can use his skills in a better way. I truly believe in this.

I think this year, the team, Maurizio in particular, will help him to reach his full potential.

The way we try to play will benefit him a lot. We try to play (for) a long time in the opposition half.

The closer we keep him to the goal, the more balls we can get him to receive the ball around the box, the more effective he can be.

So far we play the majority of the games so far in the opposition’s half.

You get a lot of touches of the ball, especially our strikers, in the last 20 metres, which is where a striker with my qualities would have enjoyed it very much.” - Source: Independent.

This is also a sentiment that Maurizio Sarri has spoken of in his press conference yesterday ahead of tonight's game against the Premier League leaders. Talking of Hazard, having already admitted that he new he was good but now exactly how good he is until he started working with him a few weeks ago, Sarri said:

"I think that he is for sure one of the best. He is a genius. But I am absolutely convinced that he can improve. If he's able to improve during the training, maybe he will be able to use himself at 100 per cent because I think that we have seen only 70-80-85 per cent of his potential. I think that if he is able to improve, he will be the best in the world.” - Source: Telegraph.

That's amazing to hear isn't it. Just take a moment to think about how Eden Hazard has stepped up in the last two season previous to this year and see how he has taken games by the scruff of the neck to become the game-changer that he is. Now, if you then think that there is still 20% more to give as per Sarri's view, and he then improves by that much to play consistently at those levels, he would be unstoppable.

The problem is that it will only highlight the fact that Real Madrid are lacking a Galatico since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. Cesc Fabregas agrees and has spoken of Hazard after the victory over Liverpool feeling that it's going to be hard for Chelsea to hold onto him at the of the season having rejected a move this past summer. He said:

"It was an easy decision, especially now, because at this stage how much can Eden cost? Not many teams in the world can buy Eden Hazard. He still had two years left on his contract. 

Next year if he has one year left, that’s a different story. You don’t have as much power as a club. Eden is one of the best players in the world. 

But having two years left, especially how the market is, it’s basically impossible to sign him up. I don’t think it was that hard from the club.

 I have had some great moments with Eden on the pitch but maybe in terms of maturity, yes it is the best [form of his career]. 

He has always had the ability but he is at an age now where he feels he can be more dangerous. He knows when to pass more, when to dribble. 

His maturity has improved a lot and now he is scoring goals, decisive goals which we all wanted from him. 

When you see the top players, this is what they do. They make a difference in terms of scoring goals. I think he needed that to make the step forward and at the moment he is doing that so hopefully he can keep it up.” - Source: Standard.

We just need to focus on the here and now rather than look to the future. Despite our obvious defensive flaws at the moment, I still believe that with Eden Hazard in your team you will always have a chance to win the game.

Having started arguably better than ever this time around and with Maurizio Sarri talking of the potential to improve even further - this could be the year that Eden Hazard finally becomes the best in the world.