Lionel Messi Joining Chelsea Would Come at the Expense of Eden Hazard

Lionel Messi may be on his way to Chelsea, if speculation is to be believed, and if the Barcelona forward does make the move to Stamford Bridge, it could well be at the expense of Eden Hazard.

As Liam Corless of the Mirror details, "Messi has had Chelsea fans salivating by following the club's official Instagram account."

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Corless continues: "Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly reckons he could prise him away from Barcelona with some suggesting it could take as much as £200m."

This follows November reports from Pete Jenson of MailOnline, who relayed Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo in claiming "Messi could have signed for Chelsea in the summer after [sponsors] adidas offered to pay half of his £210 million buy-out clause."

It may be a hypothetical, tentative suggestion, but if Messi were to join Chelsea, where would he find his role in manager Jose Mourinho's side?

Based on performances this season, it may be in place of fellow forward Eden Hazard.

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Lionel Messi

Widely considered the world's greatest player, Messi would add a formidable flourish to any side in world football.

In 289 appearances for Barcelona, the 27-year-old has scored 253 goals, per SoccerBase.com.

This season, despite injury issues and the bizarre rotational approach of Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, Messi has scored eight goals and made a further two assists in six La Liga games.

"

Buffon: "I had to touch Messi, just to see if he's actually real." pic.twitter.com/EHLsYldkfo

— Fútbol World™ (@_futbolworld) October 11, 2014"

Last season, Messi scored 28 and made 11 in 31 league games; the season before that he scored 46 and made 12 in 32; the season before that he scored 50 and made 16 in 37.

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Messi is a true footballing phenom, and he makes a daunting prospect in any manager's tactical outline. With the ability to glide through defences with ease, Messi is nearly impossible to man-mark.

The Barcelona man makes 4.1 dribbles, 2.5 key passes and has 4.6 shots on average per La Liga game.

These statistics outline Messi's primary concern on the field: attack.

However, the one deficiency of Messi's game perhaps naturally comes in terms of defensive contribution.

Messi makes just 0.9 tackles and 0.1 interceptions on average per La Liga game, with only Pedro making less of a combined impact in the Barcelona squad.

	Pedro	Lionel Messi	Neymar	Munir
Tackles	0.6	0.9	0.8	0.5
Interceptions	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.5
Combined	0.7	1	1	1

Of course, this is offset by his near-unmatched attacking prowess, but it is very much a manager's prerogative to build a side around Messi and his talents; the rest of the squad is charged with doing the dirty work while the forward is expected to shine.

Obviously a draw such as Messi—both on and off the field—is hard to ignore for Mourinho and Abramovich, but where would the Barcelona fit in this currently successful system?

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Mourinho's Chelsea System

Last season, following widespread criticism, Mourinho blamed his side's poor form on his attempt to change systems, per Sam Wallace of The Independent.

The manager claimed: "We are now going to change. I don't want to defend as a low block. I don't want central defenders playing in midfield. I don't want long balls to a lonely striker."

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To his credit, Mourinho has adapted this system, and Chelsea now look to maintain high levels of pressure in all areas of the field—particularly when not in possession, as Boxing Day's high-pressure domination of West Ham United in a 2-0 victory outlined.

Chelsea made three times the amount of tackles in West Ham's half than Sam Allardyce's side made in theirs, with 12 compared to the Hammers' four.

Mourinho noted this in August of last year, claiming that "the reality is that our way of thinking about football, the DNA we want in our team, is this one we are trying to show," per The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson.

This is clearly the way Mourinho intends to set his side out, with a fluid formation contributing equally both in defence and attack.

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With the Blues currently top of the Premier League table, albeit entirely joint with second-placed Manchester City, this system is clearly a successful one.

However, as outlined, Messi is hardly inclined to contribute regularly in winning the ball back and pressing opponents high up the field.

So where would he fit into this system?

Messi's defensive efforts aren't at the level of Chelsea's attack, and with Mourinho generally emphasising the importance of a hard-working, all-round pressure, there is really only one role for Messi at Stamford Bridge.

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Eden Hazard

Currently within Mourinho's regular starting line-up, there is one player effectively exempt from defensive duties, that man being the majestic Hazard.

In his April comparison of Hazard's roles for Chelsea and Belgium respectively, Bleacher Report's Garry Hayes outlined that "Hazard is one of the main creative outlets for Chelsea," continuing that he "predominantly [features] on the left side of Chelsea's attacking three midfielders."

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This underlines Hazard's role at Chelsea.

Following Chelsea's 3-1 Champions League semi-final defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid last season, Hazard complained how he was "[often] asked to do it all by myself and it's not easy," per Wilson of The Telegraph.

This referred to the defensive duties expected of him by Mourinho, who offered a retort: "Eden is the kind of player who is not so mentally ready to look back at his left-back and live his life for him."

While Hazard may have improved his work rate, in 2014/15, Mourinho has relented somewhat, and Hazard is offered a free, creative, attacking role.

The 23-year-old has made just 0.8 tackles on average per game in the Premier League this season, whereas fellow attacking midfielder Oscar makes 2.1 per game.

	Eden Hazard	Oscar	Willian	Andre Schurrle
Tackles	0.8	2.1	1.2	1.4
Interceptions	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.3
Combined	1.5	2.7	1.6	1.7

Of course, Hazard is rightly free of these duties due to his effervescent attacking displays, which garnered reported interest from Barcelona last summer, per Ben Jefferson of the Daily Express.

In contrast to the previous defensive comparison, Hazard makes 2.6 key passes and 4.6 dribbles on average per game, while Oscar makes 1.7 key passes and just 0.9 dribbles.

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Both are integral to Mourinho's system, as they complement each other.

If Messi were to join Chelsea, it would likely be at the expense of Hazard.

The No. 10 is the one player in Mourinho's squad who is not expected to regularly contribute in the defensive phase.

A Chelsea side boasting Hazard on the left and Messi on the right may be a salivating prospect for Blues fans, but could Mourinho find the right balance if he included both?

Were Lionel Messi to join Chelsea in the future, perhaps it could see Eden Hazard move to Barcelona as part of the deal, as there would likely be room for just one of these vastly talented, defensively neglectful forwards in Jose Mourinho's hard-working side.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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