Warning the Manchester clubs and Chelsea to be wary of Eden Hazard

We all know that Eden Hazard is a good player; the Belgian winger has returned 20 goals and 16 assists for Lille this season, including a hat-trick in his final appearance last night.

That’s all fine, but Hazard also comes complete with an enormous ego. Last night, he was supposed to announce which English club he would be joining live on Canal+ after Lille’s game with Nancy – only to linger in the limelight by declaring that he hasn’t made up his mind yet. Does that ring any bells – any alarm bells?

Other than being horribly reminiscent of ‘The Decision’ – LeBron James’ hopelessly misjudged attempt to dramatise his move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat – it demonstrates quite how exaggerated Hazard’s sense of self really is.

The Belgian’s continuously behaved like the prettiest girl in school throughout this process – ambiguous suggestions here, a flutter of the eyelashes there. He’s enjoying being the centre of attention far too much.

It can’t be stressed enough that he is a good player, but this is playing with fire – the British media love nothing more than to knock down what they perceive to be an inflated foreign ego. We’ve seen it with managers, we’ve seen it players – Hazard, without kicking a ball in the Premier League, has already made himself fairly dislikeable.

A decision is due imminently – Hazard himself says he’s received excellent offers from all clubs – but whoever ends up winning the race needs to cut him down to size a bit. Ligue 1 is a good league, but being a star in France is not the same as achieving the same standing in Spain or England. Performances first, please Eden.

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