Eden Hazard v Jose Mourinho: It's war

We take a look at the extraordinary twist which has seenChelsea's undisputed best player dropped from the side.

Some call him the second Juan Mata – I prefer to think of him as the third Joe Cole – but with a few choice words on Saturday, Jose Mourinho appeared to fire the starting pistol on the beginning of the end for Eden Hazard at Chelsea.

“Willian and Pedro did amazing defensive work and allowed the midfield players to be very comfortable,” said the Blues' boss about the men who played in his stead.

“I continue that way (with Hazard on the bench), or he comes in our direction and tries to replicate the same work that Willian and Pedro did.”

Parking that praise for Pedro, who unlike the hard working and continuously improving Willian gave little in the game, to what extent is Mourinho calling out Hazard on his team work here?

Chelsea's Pedro - Reuters

Mata himself, who knows a thing or two about this scenario, seemed clear on his own view when he spoke about the matter prior to the weekend's fixtures.

“If a luxury player is a player who scores and assists and has good stats – then I’m happy to be a luxury player,” he told The Times.

“I’ve scored as many goals for Manchester United in the Premier League as for Chelsea, but in something like 30 games less.

“When you lose, a certain kind of player – the creative players – always get the blame.”

Without explicitly naming Mourinho, the Spaniard seemed to be pointing the finger in only one possible direction (it was Mourinho who first applied the 'luxury' tag to Mata, on his departure from Stamford Bridge).

But Hazard is a very different case to Mata, and to Cole before him, because Hazard is supposed to be Mourinho's man.

While Cole and Mata were inherited from other managers (Ranieri and Villas-Boas), and acquired that 'luxury' status early in their relationship with Mourinho, Hazard is far more central to Chelsea's plans.

Though not his buy (he was a Michael Emenalo purchase), the central status Hazard earned in Mourinho's team elevated him to that rarest of levels: 'untouchable'.

Until now.

Chelsea's Eden Hazard - Reuters

Impact of the individual is a difficult thing to judge when comparing sides, and some will insist Mata's influence on the Chelsea that won the Champions League is greater than Hazard's has been on the present Chelsea.

But the difference in the level of competence of those sides – from sixth to first in the Premier League – and the almost single-handed way in which Hazard hauled an already-cracking Chelsea over the line last season, indicates a player far more pivotal to the team.

Though when Mourinho came up in similar battles of will against Cole and Mata, there was only going to be one winner, Hazard has proved that he can be the player Mourinho wants him to be.

Usually in such battles, you'd put cash on only one outcome: not least because to get rid of Mourinho would cost Chelsea £30m; and to get rid of Hazard will raise them anything up to £70m (certainly less than the wild valuations attached to him when he was cantering to the double player of the year title).

And, with Real Madrid clearly looming large on the horizon, who would bet against Hazard following Arjen Robben's route away from Mourinho's Chelsea to the Santiago Bernabeu?

Fans get very excited when you talk about who is or isn't a "selling club", but Chelsea undoubtedly are one.

In these days, there are very few clubs who don't carry that tag – perhaps only Real, Barcelona, Manchester City and PSG. Clubs that can literally sit on talent, regardless of cost.

And usually you would expect for at some point that calculation to be made when it comes to Hazard.

Even with his slightly tapering value, this market is far more excitable than the ones that turned Robben from a £12m player in to a £24m one, or Mata from a £23m player into a £37m one. And that cash will be tricky to ignore.

A lot of what happens next will depend on just how muchChelsea's recent public vote of confidence for Mourinho means, and how much we are to believe his insistence that even a mid-table finish will keep his job safe. (And, frankly, most believe not a word of that).

This much is almost certain: Mourinho's contract has until 2019 to run, Hazard's a year more than that; and it seems unlikely that both men will still be in Chelsea blue when those deals come to an end.