The pressure of being compared with his brothers Eden and Thorgan Hazard has never bothered KYLIAN HAZARD. The 24-year-old, now at Cercle Brugge, still has fond memories of his childhood with his siblings as he looks to forge a career of his own in one of Europe’s major leagues. Gianluca Lia spoke to the former Chelsea 
U-23 player about his relationship with his brothers and his development as a player… 

Kylian Hazard has embarked on a journey at Belgian top-flight side Cercle Brugge as he looks to make a name for himself, away from the comparisons of his brothers Eden Hazard and Thorgan Hazard.

Being the brother of two of the most exciting talents in football is not easy. With Eden currently living the dream at Real Madrid and Thorgan plying his trade at Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, it is inevitable that people would expect Kylian to live up to his surname.

So far, Kylian has already played in three countries namely Belgium, Hungary and England but it is at Cercle Brugge that he wants to leave his mark before making another big step in his career.

Despite all the spotlight on him, Kylian is not bothered with the pressure and comparisons with his brothers.

“Pressure? I have no pressure as they are my brothers, so I never compare myself with them,” Hazard told the Times of Malta.

“They do their job and I do my mine and then we see where all this commitment and hard work takes me.”

Commitment and hard work have always been the mantra for the Hazard trio, who have been sharing their passion for football since a young age.

“When we were young, we had a garden in our home and that is where we used to spend hours playing football,” Hazard explained.

“Given that we are now three professional footballers, maybe those type of challenges between us has helped us become what we are now.”

Eden and Thorgan are both part of the current Belgian golden generation who seem to be on the brink of writing history in Belgian football after reaching the semi-finals in the 2018 World Cup.

“I feel that the Belgian national team have great players at the moment and it is time for them to deliver,” the Cercle Brugge player said.

“As they continue to play together and integrate as a team, I think they could finally be on top of the podium in an international tournament.”

While the national team continues to put impressive performances on the big stage, having also qualified to next summer’s European Championships, the Belgian championship is still a work in progress in order to become a reference point at club level in the Old Continent.

Cercle Brugge are currently last after 23 games with 11 points and once their commitments resume, they have two stern tests in Antwerp and Anderlecht on home soil.

“The first part of the season was not very good for us because we did not play good, in particular myself because I could not help my team with my performances,” the 24-year old said.

“In the second part of the season, we have to step up our game in order to reach our objective - retaining our top-flight status.”

Hazard hopes that the training camp in Malta will help them tune themselves and find their best form before they head back to Belgium.

“This training camp was a positive one for us – Malta is a beautiful country with nice weather and good football pitches where we could do our usual training sessions,” the Belgian player said.

Asked about his impressions of the Belgian league, Kylian said that the fact that there are many young players playing there means that they see it as a reference point for their development.

“I think the level of the Belgian top-flight is very good,” Hazard explained.

“Although it may not be a highly-followed league, it is a good stepping-stone for the young players.”

Chelsea spell

Prior to joining Cercle Brugge, Hazard was at Chelsea U-23 with whom he made 12 appearances, grabbing two goals in the process.

At the Blues, Hazard was part of a youth system that is highly-rated but often not very used by the Chelsea senior team.

Nonetheless, he still heaped praise on the formation received there and is keen to translate that into motivation for his Belgian experience.

“Obviously, there was a high level of football at Chelsea and it was good for me,” Hazard said.

“However, I think that the quality of football played in Belgium is very good as well and that is important for me to develop as a player.”