Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s greatest foreign import, insists Blues legend Gianfranco Zola

Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s greatest foreign import, insists Blues legend Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola has hailed Eden Hazard as Chelsea’s greatest foreign import.Assistant coach Zola, who scored 80 goals in 312 Chelsea appearances between 1996 and 2003, needed no time to put Hazard top of the Stamford Bridge pile for overseas recruits.2

Chelsea No 2 Gianfranco Zola was a huge hit during his playing days and holds legendary status among supporters

Ivory Coast hitman Didier Drogba and Zola would doubtless be at the forefront of fans’ minds when drawing up a list of Chelsea’s all-time great imports.But Zola is adamant Hazard must top that chart, while admitting he still holds out hope the Belgium playmaker will not depart for Real Madrid this summer.“Eden Hazard’s definitely at the very top,” said Zola, ranking the 28-year-old as Chelsea’s best-ever overseas signing.“He’s such an unbelievable player. The more I’ve spent time with him the more I appreciate him as a player, but also as a boy.“He’s been great. I would love to have him for longer.2

However, Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s greatest foreign import, according to Zola

“What we are trying to do here perfectly suits him. It’s no coincidence that he’s having his best season.“I don’t want to take anything away from him and what he has achieved. But certainly the way we play helps him a lot.”Madrid are expected to lure Hazard away from Chelsea this summer, with the Belgium star’s current Stamford Bridge deal expiring at the end of next season.Chelsea continue to hold out for 100m however, with Real boss Zinedine Zidane keen to add the livewire forward to his Bernabeu rebuilding project.Hazard has 85 goals and 81 assists from his 241 Premier League appearances for Chelsea since his 2012 debut.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2...

• Napoli vs Arsenal (Thursday, 8pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Sheffield United vs Nottingham Forest (Friday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Leeds vs Wigan (Friday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Sunderland vs Doncaster (Friday, 5:15pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Norwich vs Sheffield Wednesday (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Newcastle vs Southampton (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Accrington Stanley vs Luton (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Everton vs Manchester United (Sunday, 1:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Cardiff vs Liverpool (Sunday, 4pm) – talkSPORT

Despite continuing to hope the Belgian will stay at Chelsea next term, Zola insisted the Blues can still pull off a strong end to the campaign by winning the Europa League and finishing fourth in the Premier League.“Of course we hope that Hazard will stay with us because he’s such an important player for us,” said Zola.“There’s a lot of talking around this team, I realise that. “But we as coaches have to make sure we are not distracted by all of that.“We need to maintain focus, because this year a lot of times I heard talk that it’s been a bad season.“But if we can reach the final and maybe win the Europa League and end up fourth in the Premier League, I think it could be a remarkable season.”

---

West Brom play host to Aston Villa in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Tuesday at the Hawthorns.. Villa, who finished the league campaign in sparkling form, make the
West Brom vs Aston Villa team news: These are the play-off

---

Phil Foden has agreed a new five-and-a-half-year contract extension with City. The 18-year-old playmaker is now contracted to the Club until 2024. Foden, a lifelong City fan, has been with the Blues since the age of eight, gradually rising through the junior ranks and Academy teams until he was
Manchester City star Foden signs new five-and-a - goal.com

---

Next Leeds United manager odds: Carlos Corberan, Sam Allardyce and David Moyes in the frame to replace Marcelo Bielsa IF 'El Loco' leaves Elland Road Thursday, 16 May 2019 ( 2 weeks ago ) Carlos Corberan has emerged as the favourites with bookmakers to replace Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds IF 'El Loco' leaves Elland Road.
Derby County vs Leeds United Betting Tips: Latest odds, team

---

Latest Celtic news, scores, stats, photos and videos on MSN Sport Celtic assistant John Kennedy defends Scott Brown's behaviour in Old Firm derby FourFourTwo; Timothy Weah. 1.83 m / 66
Scotland National Football Team News, Fixtures and Results

---

Brahim Diaz 'close' to completing Real Madrid move with shock

---

Atlético Madrid defender Lucas Hernández has denied reaching an agreement with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich ahead of the January transfer window. The 22-year-old has been coming on leaps and bounds over the last few years, making a name for himself as either a full back or centre back at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Transfer news: 'Leroy Sane would be Arjen Robben and Franck

---

Every squad has a dressing room joker and Chelsea are no different, as confirmed by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Much has changed in recent seasons at Stamford Bridge with the likes of John Terry, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Thibaut Courtois and Cesc Fabregas - all big personalties within the squad - departing on a permanent basis.
Interview: Ruben Loftus-Cheek on Chelsea, Cech - and the

---

The Europa League Final between Chelsea and Arsenal on May 29th is presenting unprecedented challenges to supporters who wish to be there in the hope of witnessing Chelsea winning another European trophy. It is clear that, whilst a pleasant place to visit for a group stage match, Baku is a totally unsuitable location for a major European final.

---

Heung-min Son has been in superb form for Tottenham this season "I don't care that people are saying Liverpool or Man City," Son said when asked about the title race. 'We are still there, we're going for it. "We'll see what is going to happen at the end of the season. They're very good sides like us. We have to just focus on
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd DEAL AGREED, Liverpool £25m exit

---

Stoke City: Glen Johnson makes shocking revelations about dressing room during relegation season Johnson claims players knew they were doomed from the start of the season and it made him 'hate
Stoke City: Glen Johnson makes shocking revelations about

---

Preview followed by live coverage of Saturday's League Two game between Newport County and Tranmere Rovers. BBC News 1 day ago: Newport vs Tranmere: Kick-off time, TV details, live stream, talkSPORT coverage and more Newport and Tranmere face off at Wembley this weekend in the League Two play-off final.

---

Marouane Fellaini: Former Manchester United star scores on Chinese Super League debut for Shandong Luneng. Marouane Fellaini got off to a flying start in China by netting the winning goal during

---

FA Cup: Millwall 3-2 Everton highlights. Murray Wallace scored a dramatic 94th-minute winner to earn Millwall a famous FA Cup fourth-round win over Everton at The Den. Everton led when keeper Jordan Archer failed to hold Richarlison's strike before Lee Gregory's looping header levelled the scores.
Everton's season is on the line ahead of their FA Cup trip to

---

Newcastle United news: Richard Keys tells Rafa Benitez to 'spend some of his own money' if he loves Magpies The beIN SPORTS pundit backed former Manchester United and England star Rio
Newcastle United news: Richard Keys tells Rafa Benitez to

---

Peter Crouch, leikmaður Burnley á Englandi, er mikill húmoristi og er virkur á samskiptamiðlinum Twitter. Crouch horfði á PFA verðlaunahátíðina í gær þar sem besti leikmaður tímabilsins á Englandi var kosinn. Crouch birti í kjölfarið afar skemmtilega færslu þar sem má sjá mynd af bikarnum sem Virgil van Dijk fékk.

---