Eden Hazard’s cameo at Leicester did seem like a farewell.
From the outset, the travelling Blues fans made their feelings clear about their number 10, unveiling a banner before kick-off which read ‘Eden Hazard bleeds blue. Chelsea is your home’.
And they made their voices heard during the game, continuously singing about wanting him to stay.
He was finally introduced from the bench by boss Maurizio Sarri midway through the second half and nearly made his mark in the 82nd minute, but spurned a gilt-edged chance after the ball had fallen nicely to him around six yards out.
It wasn’t the perfect farewell – if it turns out to be farewell – in terms of the performance, but he has certainly left his mark on the Chelsea fan base and will go down as an all-time great if this does indeed happen to be his final Premier League appearance for the club.
Following the full-time whistle, Hazard waited until the very end to approach the Chelsea support on his own and soak up the applause as they again sang his name.
A thumbs-up was given to the supporters and kisses were blown before he made his way back towards the dressing room.
Will we see him again in the Premier League? And if not, how on earth will Chelsea replace him?
This post was last modified on 12/05/2019