Eden Hazard has revealed he was left feeling so guilty over Jose Mourinho’s sacking that he sent a text message to the former Chelsea manager to apologise.

Mourinho was axed by the Premier League champions in December after a disastrous first half of the season leaving the Blues just one point above the relegation zone after 16 games.

Hazard, who was Chelsea’s standout performer in their title winning campaign last season, was one of a number of players performing well below their usual high standards.

Eden Hazard, pictured at training on Friday, sent Jose Mourinho a text to apologise after he was sacked

Hazard admits he felt guilty about the Portuguese losing his job because his form had dipped so badly

And the Belgium international has admitted that a portion of blame for Chelsea’s most successful manager ever losing his job lays at his door. 

‘I sent him (Mourinho) the message to say I was sorry he had gone and, well, just that I was sorry,’ Hazard told The Guardian. ‘We’d enjoyed all that success together last season, but this time round we hadn’t. 

‘I felt a little bit guilty because I’d been player of the year. I’d been one of the most decisive players, and this year I’d performed less well.’

Hazard’s dip, like Chelsea’s, was sudden and alarming in equal measure. Only months earlier the 25-year-old had been voted the best player in the country by his peers, winning the PFA Player of the Year award after a stellar season.

Mourinho, pictured earlier this week, was axed by Chelsea with the club just one point above the bottom three

Hazard, pictured against Watford on Wednesday, is still searching for his first league goal of the season

The former Lille winger scored an impressive 14 Premier League goals last season – no one could have predicted he would still be waiting for his first of this campaign in February.

And Hazard, too, is left searching for answers but accepts a spell like this is always on the cards. 

‘This is the first time this has happened to me, but it was always going to happen at some stage. You have to learn from it. I’m a human being, not a machine. I’ve been a professional since I was 16, so maybe that has had an influence too.’

Chelsea reignited talk of a late push for a top-four spot after earning a 1-0 victory against title-chasing Arsenal at the Emirates two weeks ago but their failure to back it up with a win against Watford on Wednesday saw them slip even further behind in the race for Europe.

Hazard was voted PFA Player of the Year last season but has been unable to replicate the standard set

Hazard believes Chelsea can qualify for next season’s Champions League by pulling off a 2012-like triumph

Guus Hiddink’s side were held to a goalless draw at Vicarage Road to leave them 16 points behind Arsenal in fourth and, with just 14 games left to play, Hazard concedes it is a bridge too far even for defending champions. 

‘If we’re not in the Champions League, we’ll not have deserved to be in it. We’ll not have done enough to make the top four. You can eat away at 10 or 11 points very quickly, but it’s easier if you still have 30 matches to play. We only have 14 so I think the Premier League is finished.’

But Hazard does still think there is a viable route into next season’s No 1 club competition in Europe. 

‘So we’ll have to win [the European Cup] to qualify. Why not? Look at 2012. That’s why I always say we have to target the Champions League.’