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Eden Hazard is only worth £32m if he can help Fernando Torres

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Eden Hazard will certainly change the way Chelsea play football - but I was not blown away by his performance at Wembley.

He’s technically very good, comfortable with the ball at his feet and he’s got great awareness for players around him. Like Samir Nasri he’s as quick with the ball as he is without it.

Against England he wasn’t spectacular, far from it. For a player costing more than £30million I was maybe expecting a  little bit more. But he’s a young lad.

Welcome to England: Ashley Cole puts in a big tackle on his new Chelsea colleague Eden Hazard

 

We’re a little too quick to judge foreign players coming into the Barclays Premier League. He’s only 21 and been playing in an inferior league so he might find the adjustment difficult.

When Ramires came to Chelsea I remember thinking: ‘Who’s this?’ He didn’t get off to the best start, but now he’s such an influential player for the club.

Ever since Gianfranco Zola left Chelsea back in 2003 they’ve been looking for someone to replace him. Someone to score special goals, who links with the strikers and plays with the guys in the middle of the park.

HAZARD FACTS & FIGURES

Read all the stats from Hazard's performance at Wembley here

They tried it with Deco and it didn’t work. He was at the back-end of his career.

More recently it has been Frank Lampard linking with Didier Drogba.

With the striker gone and this boy coming in that is going to change.

If Hazard starts it’s going to be a very different Chelsea. It’s going to be a Chelsea we haven’t seen for quite a few years. If it works out they might have found Zola’s replacement.

Set 'em up: Fernando Torres could benefit from Hazard's creativity

I’m sure Fernando Torres is going to be starting next season.

Roman Abramovich likes him and Drogba leaving has paved the way for them to build the team around the Spain striker. Hazard was up front for Belgium against England but he still played in that linking role — he just didn’t have anyone to link up with who could apply a finish!

With his passing and speed he could have the ability to free Torres. But it could take him some time, I’m not convinced it’ll  happen straight away.

Can he be a match winner? Can he boss the game? Can he make the difference to get Chelsea into the top four again? He’s scored freely in France but don’t rely on him to get 25 goals in his first season.

The biggest potential puzzle is can he play with Juan Mata?

I would question that. I just don’t know if you can have Mata and Hazard in the same team. They are certainly options for the manager but I’m not convinced they will play those two week in, week out.

Mata was Chelsea’s best player last season and had more assists than any other player.

Hazard created the most goals in Ligue 1 last season with 16. They’re very similar in that sense and I’m not sure they’ll work in the same team. Who do you pick?

Compatibility: Can Juan Mata and Hazard click?

If he wants to compete in the Premier League he’s going to need to be a tough character. Hazard gets on the ball and he draws fouls all over the pitch. That’s similar to Cristiano Ronaldo - but one of Ronaldo’s greatest strengths is he is physically tall and very strong.

Hazard clearly isn’t like that.

I remember talking to Sir Alex Ferguson about Ronaldo and he said, however amazing he is, one of his best attributes was that he’s tough. He is always inviting challenges and taking knocks but always getting back up again.

You’re going to take knocks from players like Nigel de Jong. They’ll take a swipe at your leg rather than let you run past them. Players like that are going to make life  uncomfortable for Hazard.

He has to have that ability - mentally as well as physically - to get up again and again.

In the past two seasons he played every single league match for Lille and clocked up 6,291 minutes out of a possible 6,840. Hopefully that’s a sign he can hack it over here.

He’s a player for the future. Chelsea have invested in his potential. Players have moved in the past for big money that haven’t delivered. Just now I wouldn’t put my mortgage on him being a massive success - but let’s wait and see.

  More... Facts and figures from Wembley about Chelsea new boy Hazard Romeu plans to fight for his place at Chelsea despite dropping down pecking order Vermaelen delighted Belgium colleague Hazard has chosen England switch



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