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Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin has revealed that Chelsea star Willian is benefitting the most from the sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.

Hazard left Chelsea to join the Los Blancos at the end of last season, and Interestingly, the Blues have done really well in his absence.

While Chelsea were expected to struggle following Hazard’s departure, the likes of Willian has carried on from where he stopped. Willian has been in incredible form under Lampard, and Nevin believes that Hazard’s departure has played a role too.

“Frank is giving him a lot of praise, positivity and freedom; that helps any creative player,” Nevin told The Athletic.

“He is not playing in a more structured way but I think he has also been helped with Eden Hazard not being there.

“People don’t realise how if you have a guy on the other wing, he has a massive effect on your game. If the guy on the other wing is less of a willing worker, it’s like a piece of string. If he is 20 yards further up the pitch, you have to be 20 yards back to cover for that area. Hazard wasn’t the maddest worker. Willian did most of the donkey work but he was willing to do it for the team.

“The other thing was, when Chelsea had the ball, if the players had a choice between giving Hazard or Willian the ball, more often than not, they gave it to Hazard. With Hazard in Madrid, he is getting much more ball and opportunities now.

“On top of that, Willian is not a natural winger; he is a No 10. But in Brazil, there are a lot of No 10s and Chelsea don’t often play with a 10. He has had to subvert a lot of himself. Now, he is getting a lot more ball, space and leeway to go inside.”