Welcome to All Football Scouting Report, in here we will take you a closer look at world's promising stars. The younger brother of Chelsea star Eden Hazard, Thorgan has quietly been making his mark on the Bundesliga for the last couple of years. Could he return to Premier League in the future?
(Video: What makes Belgium star Thorgan Hazard so good?)
When your brother is a global superstar who plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world and also stars for his country at the international level, it’s understandable that you get lost in his shadow.
That’s been the case for Thorgan Hazard, the younger brother of Chelsea striker Eden Hazard. But over the last two years, Thorgan has been making a name for himself in Germany as his club Borussia Monchengladbach currently sit in second place in the Bundesliga.
What's more interesting about Thorgan, however, is the fact that he followed his older brother to Chelsea in 2012 before making a permanent move to Germany, and what had fans buzzing recently is whether Thorgan could yet return to Stamford Bridge in the future.
So what is the full story on the younger Hazard? Let's takes a look.
Who is Thorgan Hazard?
Hazard is a Belgian midfielder who plays for Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, and is the younger brother of Chelsea star Eden Hazard.
Like his older brother, the younger Hazard plays in an attacking midfielder and winger for both club and country.
The 25-year-old followed in his older sibling's footsteps in starting his youth career progressing through the ranks at Belgian sides Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize, before signing his first professional contract after graduating from the Lens academy in France.
Hazard's parents thought that a move to France from Belgium would further his football career and accepted the offer, emulating the path of Eden – who signed a professional contract with Lille, who are the main rivals of Lens.
During Hazard's time at Lens, he came up alongside established players such as Raphael Varane and Geoffrey Kondogbia in the side that that won the Ligue 2 title in the 2008-09 season.
Thorgan Hazard's Chelsea Days
In the summer of 2012, after three years with Lens, Hazard signed for Chelsea not long after they had already agreed terms for the transfer of his older brother Eden from Lille.
The younger Hazard made his debut only outing at any level for the Blues in August 2012 in an Under-21 Premier League fixture against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Though Hazard was a Chelsea player for three years, but spent much of that on loan – first in a two-year spell at Belgian side Zulte Waregem from 2012 to 2014 and then at Borussia Monchengladbach in the 2014-15 campaign.
At Zulte Waregem, the midfielder was honoured with the Belgian Golden Shoe in January 2014, awarded to the best footballer in the Belgian Pro League, and scored 21 goals over 90 appearances.
In his debut season on loan for Borussia Monchengladbach, Hazard scored five goals in 41 outings.
He never played in a competitive fixture for Chelsea, and eventually agreed to leave the side to join Mochengladbach permanently on July 1 2015, signing a five-year contract.
The transfer fee was reported to be €8 million (£5.9m), which is 16 times as much as Chelsea originally paid for him.
Is Thorgan Hazard a full Belgium international?
Hazard has represented his country in every level starting with the Under-15 side, and was handed his first senior call-up against the United States in May 2013, and has since earned 19 caps and registered three goals.
The midfielder made his international debut for Belgium as a second-half substitute for Romelu Lukaku in the 4-2 win against the USMNT, and was included as one of his country's seven standby players for the 2014 World Cup.
(Thorgan Hazard recently scored two memorable goals against Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League in November in a 5-2 loss)
His second senior cap came three-and-a-half years later, however, in a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in November 2016 when he made a substitute appearance.
He netted his first goal for Belgium in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match in October 2017 against Cyprus, and went on to be included in Roberto Martinez's 23-man squad for the finals in Russia.
Playing style
Although a different player to his Ballon d'Or-chasing brother, Thorgan displays similar traits to Eden, notably his gait and how he uses his arms for balance when running with the ball. His close control and dribbling skills are two of his greatest strengths as he looks to create opportunities for teammates from either flank or drift between the lines in the centre.
The 25-year-old's game isn't really about speed, instead using his vision to spot the right pass or hook the ball into the box, but he does possess the acceleration to burst past defenders when required. He also has an eye for goal, often looking to exchange short, sharp passes around the penalty area to fashion shooting chances.
What are his strengths?
Though he can be deployed in a tactical schematic that calls for possession and build up, where he can look to break a compact side down either with the right pass or by being direct and beating his marker to create space, Thorgan excels in a counter-attacking role.
(Hazard averaged a league-high 31 sprints per match and has also covered more ground last season than any other player on his team at 11.7km/per match)
He can create a lot of key passes per ninety-minutes (2.7 currently this season), his movement through the channels in the final third often either allows other to pull the strings, or it puts him into a position further forward where just one pass can make the difference.
What are his weaknesses?
For all his strengths in attacking areas of the park (and even without the ball in a defensive posture), Hazard doesn’t come without faults. While he does put in an effort on the defensive side of the ball, his discipline and ability in the tackle a bit more under the microscope.
Additionally, for a player tasked with being one of the forward most two players on the pitch, especially in a side who are multifaceted in a tactical sense, Hazard is not fantastic in the air, winning just 0.9 aerial duels per games in early doors this campaign.
Bright future
Hazard is now into his fifth season with the Bundesliga outfit, who he joined initially on loan from Chelsea before making the move permanent in a £5.9million deal which now looks a bargain.
(Goal starts from Thorgan Hazard who makes the finish)
He appeared in every league game for Glabach last term and became their first player to provide a goal or assist in nine consecutive games since such data started being collected.
At just 25-years old, the best is yet to come for Thorgan Hazard. He’s just tapping into his full potential which is scary to think considering how talented he already is.
The future is extremely bright for Thorgan.