Name:
Eden Hazard
Nationality: Belgian
Date of
Birth: 07/01/1991
Height:
170 cm
Weight:
56.0 kg
Previous Clubs: Lille
Position: Midfielder
Chelsea career
Eden Hazard agreed terms to sign for Chelsea in
June 2012 from Lille in France, where he had played since 2005, and became the
fourth Belgian to join the club following the arrivals of Thibaut Courtois,
Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne.
After impressing on his debut, which also
included a goal, against Seattle Sounders, Eden continued to catch the eye
throughout pre-season, and it was little surprise to see him start the
Community Shield match against Manchester City at Villa Park.
A week later he made his Premier League debut,
creating two goals in the first six minutes of a scintillating display against
Wigan Athletic, first releasing Branislav Ivanovic with a defence-splitting
pass, and then drawing a foul from Ivan Ramis to win a penalty.
He followed that up in our next game - a 4-2 win
at home to Reading - by winning a penalty which Frank Lampard converted to
break the deadlock, as well as laying on the fourth for Branislav Ivanovic.
He scored his first Chelsea goal three days later
from the penalty spot in a 2-0 win against Newcastle United, while his first
strike from open play came in the 4-1 win against Norwich City, when he
finished off a quick counter-attack by scoring from Juan Mata's pass.
Hazard received his first red card as a Chelsea
player in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Swansea City
following an altercation with a ball-boy, subsequently seeing the Belgian
suspended for three matches.
Pre Chelsea
Born on 7 January 1991 in La Louviere, Belgium,
both of Hazard's parents played football at a professional level.
After a youth career which saw him play for both
Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize, he made the switch to Lille back in 2005.
Two years later, during the 2007/08 season, he
made a handful of substitute appearances, before the following campaign saw him
really make his mark and become a first team regular, earning him international
recognition and the Young Player of the Year award at only 17-years-old.
The 2009/10 season saw him shine once again,
ensuring he was crowned Young Player of the Year for the second successive
season, while also being named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
The 2010/11 campaign was arguably his most
memorable in a Lille shirt, although it didn't start well. Hazard was publicly
criticised by Belgium coach Georges Leekens before being dropped for Lille and
failing to start a game for two months.
However, after forcing his way back into the
side, he played an integral role in inspiring the team to a league and cup
double, while also being crowned Player of the Year.
Glowing references from the likes of Zinedine
Zidane only served to enhance his stock, and it was almost inevitable that one
day the biggest clubs in Europe would come calling.
During his final season at Lille, when he was a
team-mate of Joe Cole, he scored 21 goals in 48 games and made 18 assists, as
the club finished third behind Montpellier and Paris St-Germain to make the
Champions League qualifying rounds.
He signed off in style after being handed the
captain's armband for his final game for Lille, scoring a memorable hat-trick
against Nancy in a devastating first-half display.
International career
Hazard made his Belgium international debut as a
17-year-old in a game against Luxembourg in November 2008, coming on as a late
substitute and has already racked up almost 30 caps.
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