It’s hard to imagine what the world would look like without Eden Hazard’s tweet on May 28, 2012. It’s raining Marko Marin hamstrings! Chelsea permanently on the outside of the top 4, looking in. The darkest timeline.
We knew that it was our miracle Champions League campaign that convinced the most coveted player that summer to join Chelsea. According to then Lille coach Rudi Garcia, there was also a mystery phone call that helped seal the deal, with Garcia claiming that it was from Roman Abramovich.
It turns out that was not the case. The crucial phone call was, in fact, from none other than a Chelsea legend.
“I didn’t want to go to Chelsea because I wanted to play the Champions League and they were sixth in the league. I was convinced when they won the Champions League in 2012.”
“At the time, Roberto Di Matteo really wanted me, they had Juan Mata, and Oscar had been bought. I was told: ‘You’ll see, Chelsea will play football’.”
“Gervinho called me and said: ‘Someone’s on the phone’. I didn’t know who it was but it was Drogba, he wanted me to sign. I was flattered, he was maybe the best striker in the world. In my head, I wasn’t going to sign, but in the end I was very pleased with my choice. I didn’t speak to Abramovich. I don’t know why coach Garcia wrote that in his book.”
-Eden Hazard; source: Mirror
Well done, Didier! Well done, Di Matteo! Well done, everybody.
