Chelsea supporters have organised a banner to honour club legend Eden Hazard, who retired from football last week.
The 32-year-old explained on Thursday that he “wasn’t having fun on the pitch’ and “didn’t want to play somewhere for the money”, after an injury-hit five years at Real Madrid following his move from Chelsea in the summer of 2019.
Blues supporters have paid for and made a crowd-surfing banner which will be displayed before Saturday’s clash at Stamford Bridge against Arsenal.
It will be unfurled five minutes before the 5.30pm kick-off, to avoid clashing with the Premier League’s planned minute’s silence for victims in the Israel-Palestine war.
The former Belgium international rejected offers from clubs in his home country, the United States and Saudi Arabia after leaving Madrid this summer.
He has spent time training at Chelsea, where he spent years as a player, while mulling over whether to continue his career.
He played in a charity game in Calais on Thursday night, scoring once and setting up three goals, and explained to L’Avenir about why he opted to retire.
Happy to say there will be an updated version of the banner honouring @hazardeden10
Please be aware that it will be deployed five minutes earlier than the surfers usually are in order that a silence remembering the victims of the recent events in Israel and Gaza can be observed https://t.co/cPLZZi5wuW
— cfcuk Fanzine (@onlyapound) October 20, 2023
He said: “I had always said that I would stop as soon as I didn’t have fun on the pitch anymore. I didn’t want to go and play somewhere for the money.
“It was the best solution. I didn’t enjoy training anymore… And I wasn’t playing anymore. The decision was simple.
“In life, you can’t explain everything. I am at peace with myself. I’m happy. I have so many things to do outside of football that I was able to make a serene choice.”
