The Lille attacker was once described by Zinedine Zidane as the 'next big thing', but where will he be playing in 2012‑13?
He would add to the cast of Hollywood performers in the Manchester City attack or provide the stardust missing from the Manchester United midfield.
Eden Hazard has just won a consecutive Ligue 1 player-of-the-year award and according to the Lille forward his next destination is English football's current epicentre. "I am going to Manchester. The decision will be taken soon," he said on Tuesday when receiving his award.
Only 21, Hazard seems at ease with football's double-speak as a week ago he also stated: "I have already said that my wish is to go to the Premier League. It's the blue I will be wearing next season. Definitely the blue colour."
While the amateur sleuth deduces from these comments that it is Roberto Mancini who will be writing Hazard on his team-sheet next season as City attempt to retain their Premier League title, his abilities would also be welcomed by Sir Alex Ferguson as he looks to address a creative deficit in the central area of his side.
Beyond the metronomic abilities of Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes's ball retention and passing, United require the thrust and X-factor between the flanks missing since Cristiano Ronaldo was sold for £80m to Real Madrid three years ago.
United could also do with the goals the Portuguese once supplied. Beyond Wayne Rooney's 27 in the league this campaign, only Javier Hernández managed double figures, with 10 in 28 appearances. Danny Welbeck scored only nine times, in 30 outings. Hazard has the pace and trickery of a nascent Ronaldo and his 17 strikes in 37 Ligue 1 games illustrate an eye for the finish.
He operates primarily as a wide-man, whose jet-heeled pace allows him to cut inside to speed through midfield and defence. Ferguson already has Antonio Valencia and Nani motoring down the left and right corridors so his thinking, if he were to land Hazard, may be to eventually play him centrally, as the Scot did with Ronaldo.
At City, Hazard's more likely next club, Mancini may switch David Silva or Samir Nasri inside permanently to accommodate him on the flank for the start of his career with the champions. Adam Johnson made only 10 league starts this season and if he misses out when Roy Hodgson names his England squad for Euro 2012, the 24-year-old winger may calculate it is time to move on. If Johnson is sold, Mancini would require reinforcements in this department, and as the natural instinct of Silva and Nasri is to search for space in the middle, Hazard would address the glaring lack of width, at times, in the City pattern.
The big question is how proven Hazard is. His wages demands – thought to be in the region of £150,000 to £200,000 a week – are still trying to be negotiated down, as the view is these numbers are paid for the finished article, not potential. Although Hazard was pivotal in Lille's third‑place finish this campaign and Champions League qualification for next season, Ligue 1 is not the Premier League, nor La Liga or Serie A. His single goal in 26 appearances for Belgium, and his nation's failure to qualify for the last World Cup or Euro 2012, suggests an inability to win games at international level, though Ronaldo can also struggle when playing with less talented team-mates in the Portugal side.
Hazard is the eldest of four footballing brothers. He claims that Thorgan, a 19-year-old Lens midfielder, is the better player than him, while Kylian is a youngster at Lille, and Ethan is on the books at Tubize, Eden's first club.
Hazard's father, Thierry, a defensive midfielder who played semi-professional football in Belgium, has claimed: "The priority for Eden is one thing: games, opportunities. It might be better to join a club just below the biggest."
Not anymore, it seems. When the billions of the City owner, Sheikh Mansour, beckon, or the record champions of England come calling, it becomes hard to think of what's best for long-term career prospects. Zinedine Zidane once described Hazard as the "next best thing" in football. The Manchester football aficionado – and the Premier League – may be about to discover how smart a judgment this was. Read More
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