Assessing how Chelsea can replace Real Madrid-bound Eden Hazard

As Eden Hazard’s €100m move to Real Madrid draws closer, Chelsea are preparing for life without a player that has been at the heart of their side since his arrival in 2012.

The virtually impossible task of replacing him has been made significantly more difficult by a transfer ban imposed upon the Blues by FIFA that prohibits the club from signing players over the age of sixteen for the next two transfer windows.

Chelsea are expected to appeal the sanction for a second time, this time to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and will at least hope to have the ban delayed until after the summer. Nevertheless, the club must plan for both eventualities, whether they can sign players or not over the coming months.

The arrival of Christian Pulisic - with the American returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan for the second half of last season - will certainly be a timely boost, while Callum Hudson-Odoi looks set to be handed a new deal and with it a far more prominent role next season.

However, if the Blues can get their ban delayed, or even overturned, there is a chance that they could look to offer some competition on the wings for the aforementioned young duo. Willian and Pedro will start the next season aged 31 and 32 respectively after all, and may not be offered contracts beyond their current expiry of 2020.

We take a quick look into the stats of the men in line to replace Hazard from within the club as things stand, as well as identifying a handful of youngsters that could be worth considering, be it this summer or next.

To do so we assessed players under the age of 23 with a similar dribbling profile to the Belgian as a basis given, whilst also looking at creativity and end product. Given their respective price tags some obvious candidates such as Ousmane Dembele, Kingsley Coman and Jadon Sancho have been overlooked.

What the findings show is that based on statistics from league and European competitions over the course of last season, Hudson-Odoi should arguably be considered the main man in attempting to replace Hazard’s influence. The teenager’s statistics do come with an important caveat, however, in that his minutes played last season came to the equivalent of just nine full matches.

In that time there is no doubt that the England international offered exceptional promise for the future, completing marginally more dribbles per 90 minutes than Hazard (4.68 to 4.64) at a greater success rate (76.4 per cent to 68.8 per cent). His end product stacked up pretty well too, falling just short of the Belgian’s 0.48 goals per 90 (0.45) but further back on assists (0.33 to 0.45).

He’s understandably outscored when it comes to creativity, with fewer key passes and big chances created per 90 than that of Hazard (3.22 and 0.59 respectively), but at the age of 18 his potential is quite remarkable.

Pulisic’s statistics aren’t quite so impressive - at least when compared against a player of Hazard’s ilk - though an average of 3.98 successful dribbles per 90 would certainly make up for a fair chunk of what Chelsea will lose in that regard. His success rate of 53 per cent from said attempts is more concerning, but all in all at the age of 20 he too is a player that should have a very bright future at the Bridge.

Meanwhile, if Chelsea were to be able to sign players this summer, it’s fair to say there aren’t too many players - let alone youngsters - out there with a similar statistical profile to their star man. There’s no question that they would need to compromise in some areas, but last season the Eredivisie was home to two players that should be of interest.

Had the Blues not been sanctioned then the option to take Martin Odegaard in an exchange deal from Real Madrid may well have been of interest. The Norwegian is still just 20 years of age and has flourished in loan spells in the Netherlands with Heerenveen and latterly Vitesse - a club Chelsea no doubt watch regularly given their working relationship with the Dutch outfit.

While it’s true that Odegaard plays on the right flank, his vision and creativity would make up for the fact that Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic are some way back on Hazard in those terms. The winger, who can also operate in the number ten role, averaged an outstanding 3.79 key passes per 90 minutes last season and was Hazard’s exact equal when it came to shots (2.69) and big chances created (0.59), heralding eight goals and ten assists in the regular season. With a very similar dribble success rate (64 per cent) and still impressive three dribbles per 90, Odegaard is a player that should be on Chelsea’s radar.

So too is Steven Bergwijn of PSV, who performed solidly across the board in the Eredivisie last season, posting superior figures of those assessed here to Pulisic bar dribbles per 90 (3.06). He ended the season with 14 goals and 13 assists across the league and Champions League and, at 21, has been scouted by a number of Europe’s top clubs.

The unpredictable Allan Saint-Maximin of Nice, who has a similar dribbling skillset but falls short in terms of end product, is also likely to be on the move this summer and could be of interest, while a more left (Sars)field option could be Matias Vargas of Velez in Argentina.

He has a similar playing style to Hazard in that he uses his low centre of gravity to his advantage and is powerful enough to ride challenges. He earned a senior international call-up late last year and only turned 22 last month, posting averaged of 3.32 dribbles per 90 (62.9 per cent success) and 0.55 big chances created, displaying impressive vision even if a modest four assists somewhat masks as much.