Chelsea Transfer News: Eden Hazard Announces Commitment to Blues

Eden Hazard has finally made his decision and announced that he will transfer to Chelsea. 

And it's actually official this time.

The news comes from Mr. Hazard himself, who let everyone know via Twitter:

"

I'm signing for the champion's league winner.

— Eden hazard (@hazardeden10) May 28, 2012"

For about the past month, we knew Hazard was going to a top club from the EPL, we just didn't know where. And from the way things were going, it appeared we were probably going to have to wait another month before we truly found out.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say this: Finally.

With Hazard officially a member of the, um, non-light Blues, let's take a look at what exactly this means for Chelsea. 

A look at Hazard

It's not hard to see how tremendous this 21-year-old from Belgium really is.

In 35 appearances for Lille this season, he netted 20 goals and had 16 assists. On top of that, Hazard had a successful pass percentage of 81.9 and completed 2.4 key passes per game (via whoscored.com).

He's a playmaker in every sense of the word.

Not only is he terrific at whipping balls in from the left side, he's good with short passes, he's incredibly skilled with the ball at his feet, and he score from just about anywhere on the field. 

Juan Mata

Hazard is arguably most efficient as a left winger, swinging balls in from the sideline and cutting in to take shots with his right foot.

Of course, he is just as dangerous as a center attacking mid, but with Lille, he played much more on the left.

That left side, at least for the later part of the season, was often Mata's, and Chelsea isn't going to take arguably their best playmaker out of the lineup.

Instead, Mata can make a move to the middle. From that center attacking midfielder position, the Spaniard put in two goals and had four assists in just nine games for Chelsea, so it's not like he isn't effective from both positions.

Essentially, Mata and Hazard are extremely similar in that they are both tremendous at passing and finishing. 

So, whether Roberto Di Matteo wants to put Hazard outside and Mata in the center, or vice-versa, he now has good versatility and depth for his outside attacking options. 

Chelsea becomes very strong up the middle

With Didier Drogba likely leaving town, one of the bigger question marks is simple.

How will his replacement fill his shoes?

Whether it's Fernando Torres, Romelu Lukaku, Salomon Kalou or Daniel Sturridge getting the playing time up-front, it's obvious that whoever is there will be less than a sure thing. 

Don't underestimate how much having a true playmaker behind or next to them will help.

Not only will Mata or Hazard take pressure off the forwards, they will consistently set them up in good positions to slot the ball away.

What's more, Frank Lampard will be able to move back and play his more comfortable true center midfield position, whereas he was forced to move up at times this season.

With Lamaprd, Mata, and Hazard now controlling the middle of the attacking half, the Blues can finally get back to scoring with ease after netting just the sixth most goals in the EPL in 2011-12. 

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