Eden Hazard has today signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea.

The club’s Player of the Year has continued his excellent form this season, scoring 13 times in 36 appearances and helping us to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

'I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea,' Hazard said. 'Since I came here in 2012 I have always felt good and the club has been very supportive to me.

'The manager has helped me improve a lot, the fans have been fantastic and I have an amazing understanding with my team-mates.

'I always try to give pleasure to the supporters with my style of play and it is nice to know they appreciate my work.

'I hope we can repay that support by winning lots of trophies, beginning with the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and after that, we can push hard towards the end of the season.’

Jose Mourinho added: ‘I am very happy that Eden has signed a new contract. It shows he believes in the club’s coaching staff and players to help him become the best player in the world.

'He is already a top player and his evolution has been fantastic. He is still very young and he can become the best.’

Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous attackers in world football, Hazard, 24, has completed more dribbles and suffered more fouls than any other player in the league this season, drawing praise for his sporting manner as well as his technical ability.

The Belgian, pictured above with club director Marina Granovskaia, arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2012 and has since made a total 147 appearances for the Blues, scoring 43 goals.

Hazard was voted Chelsea’s Player of the Year by the club’s supporters for the 2013/14 campaign following an exhilarating second season in west London. He finished as our top goalscorer, netting 17 in all competitions, before representing his country at their first World Cup since 2002. He also lifted the Europa League in his first season as a Chelsea player.

best player in the world after messi!

^ Bruh

LOL Chelsea8, lol

Hazard is #1 in the EA sports index and those guys know shit about stuff.

Third best in the WORLD perhaps.

come on hazard , win another player of the year award and welcome to UNITED . red will look good on you :D

@KTBFFHSWE How is Hazard the third best player in the world? -_-

Robben, Neuer, Bale, Neymar, Modric, Kroos, Ramos, Aguero, Suarez...

I know some of these are controversial, but just my opinion, so no need to get mad and start insulting me. He's up there with Neymar and Bale, but to say he's the third best player in the world is a very bold statement... I really like him as a player and love his playstyle, but I really don't see him as the third best. Top 10 perhaps...

@real I'm obviously biased but I easily rate him as high as the players you mentioned. Without a doubt the best player in Chelsea. But most of all, it was just a reaction to the lol comments above.

I see Mourinho found a suitable pen eventually.

^hahaha

@real

Here are few reasons

His defensive and offensive work rate is amazing ! Box to box , from right flank to left flank , non stop machine .

This guy gets fouled more than anyone in Europe and still shows sportsmanship . After every game look at him and other chelsea players . Hazard is usually the one who is most dirty . He looks as if he just came back from battle . Thank God , he is not getting consistent and injuries are not striking him , but feels like everyone wants him to get injured with all those kicks every game .

If Chelsea wins this season EPL , he will be no doubt player of the year in EPL . IF Chelsea wins UEFA CL ( I am sure he will have a big contribution ) , he should be Europe best player of the year IMO .

Hazard is a fantastic player, but not the Top 10 material that everyone seems to be claiming him to be. If he is 'Top 10' material, then Gotze and Pogba must be as well, since they are equally as good as him. All three are top 20 IMO, and will be future Top 10, and maybe even Top 3 players. All are fantastic talents though. Hazard just gets more recognition because he plays in England, and Chelsea fans rave over him (which is not a bad thing, a player needs all the support he can get from his fans. It just simply makes him look slightly better than he really is).

@Marcus but then again you see Nani at 3rd. Doesn't really mean he's better than other players.

^ Not to mention that Chelsea had an extremely easy group compared to the likes of City and Barca.

But really, this Hazard business could not have gone better for Chelsea. As long as Hazard has faith in the club, there should be nothing that can possibly go wrong for them. Keeping Hazard as a talisman is key for Mourinho's future plans with Chelsea, and his dedication to the club can only make their situation better.

Ooh he is not top 10 anymore ? Ever since he signed new contract and dreams of him coming to Madrid are gone . He is no longer even top 10 . MMhh OK .

But then you see there are many other stats , you can sit down and check them all on google if you not so convinced . Pound for pound best player in EPL , best league in Europe , so easily makes one of the best in Europe .

Attention: ( Please , Dont start arguments EPL vs La Liga they are ridiculous , we been arguing way too often about it , just read news how EPL just recently signed another 5 billion pound tv deal . If TV is investing their money in EPL , then I think they should know thing or two about best football to watch . So, when La Liga signs such deals , we will bring this topic back , till then , lets just skip it . )

I like this paragraph :

" The transfers of Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Angel Di Maria in recent times tell us that. When clubs have exceptional attackers of that ilk, they do not let them go without a fight.

Chelsea would have paid a premium, so it's the right move to invest in a player who has realised his potential while at the club.

It sends out the right message to Hazard's team-mates: Work hard, prove yourself, remain loyal and the club will stand by you.

Signed by Chelsea for £32 million in 2012, Hazard has made significant progress since, which must leave former club Lille feeling a little shortchanged.

He's a player whose value is probably double that, yet with his new deal, any interested clubs will have to break the £100 million barrier to even tempt Chelsea to sell. "

I have to disagree strongly with you people that think that Hazard is over-rated. 3rd best in the world according to optajoe and squawka. Pogba is no were close even though he's a very talented youngster. And comparing Kroos to Hazard.. Really?

Anyways, here's the link: http://www.squawka.com/football-player-rankings#performance-score#player-stats#top-5-european-leagues|season-2014/2015#all-teams#all-player-positions#16#44#0#0#90#08/08/2014#12/02/2015#season#1#all-matches#total#desc#total

"Ooh he is not top 10 anymore ? Ever since he signed new contract and dreams of him coming to Madrid are gone . He is no longer even top 10 . MMhh OK ."

• Marcus always sensitive and jumping to conclusions. Smh.

"I have to disagree strongly with you people that think that Hazard is over-rated. 3rd best in the world according to optajoe and squawka. Pogba is no were close even though he's a very talented youngster."

• And you're very welcome to think that. Your opinion here carries more weight since you're a Chelsea supporter. My personal opinion is that players like Cesc, Matic, Alexis, di Maria, Hazard, Toure, Silva, and Aguero are all on the same level. So Hazard would be around 12-15th best player in the world for me since he isn't as consistent of a game changer as the others I had mentioned. He is, however, justifiably one of the best players in the EPL, and an exciting talent one must keep their eyes on in the near future. Just my two cents.

As I've said before my opinion might be biased but those rankings are based on statistics, not personal thoughts regarding this matter. The very same statistics that most commentators and sports journalists in the world uses as it is the biggest source for football related stats in the world. Your personal opinion weighs less than that. SO only because you think that he's ranked 12-15th best don't mean that he is.

And, once again, I think your negative approach towards Chelsea affect your opinions here. Not consistent? Not a game-changer? Please, he's very much both. Especially this year, he has been very very consistent. On a completely other level than past years.

Some more stats.. Hazard has more successful passes, higher pass completion, more key passes AND CHANCES CREATED than any of the players anyone have mentioned in this thread. Meaning that he's involved with most goal-scoring situations in Chelsea so thus is definitively a game-changer.

So Di Maria is consistent and Hazard not? Are you sure? On the other side Hazard is for sure not 3rd best player on the world.