Tuesday evening’s UEFA Champions League fixtures saw two of Europe’s best young talents strut their stuff on the continents highest platform, with Eden Hazard and Nicolas Gaitan both taking to the field for their respective clubs Lille (against CSKA Moscow) and for Benfica (against Man United).
Hazard, a name becoming increasingly familiar to many of those involved in football, has started to catch the attention of the hierarchy at Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal who are believed to be interested in taking the Belgian to England in the not too distant future.
Eden Hazard is just 20 years old, and has already been described as similar to both global superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, with his incredibly gifted technical ability. Described as an explosive attacking midfielder, Hazard is adept in both the centre and also as a winger going forward, with his quick pace and magnetic dribbling helping him to suit these positions perfectly.
Nevertheless, unlike Messi and Ronaldo, Hazard is not a goal-scorer, but his effective ability to create and play a pass more than compensates for his lack of goals. Hazard is also seen as a consummate professional, with a cool head and a great sportsman, which is reflected by his career total of only 11 yellow cards.
His ability has certainly sparked high praise from highly respected figures- Zinedine Zidane said about the Belgian that “Eden is technically gifted and very fast. He will be a major star in the future; I would take him to Real Madrid with my eyes closed”.
He has been a talisman for Lille since emerging onto the scene in 2007, with over 160 appearances for the club and was instrumental in the side’s cup and league double last season, claiming Ligue 1 Player of the Year award. Overall he has netted 33 times and laid on 27 assists, whilst already having 25 international caps to his name.
He once again merited his high praise with a Man of the Match performance against Russian side CSKA, pivotal to all of Lille’s attacking play and also being heavily involved in the two goals that the French side scored. He is certainly one to keep an eye on, and there is a strong possibility that he could end up in English football sometime in the near future.
Another one to watch is Benfica’s playmaker Nicolas Gaitan, who is strongly linked with a move to the red side of Manchester, who he came up against this evening at Old Trafford. Having imperiously impressed in the first meeting between the two sides in the group stages, including a spectacular outside-of-the-boot long pass that lead to Benfica’s goal, speculation has been rife that United are taking a serious look at the young Argentine.
23 year old Gaitan was signed as a replacement for the outgoing Angel Di Maria for €8.4 million from Boca Juniors, whom he made 79 appearances for. Gaitan is seen as an Attacking Midfielder, who likes to play out wide off the front man, with the ability to roam across the front line. His main asset is his passing, accompanied with an excellent visual sense of awareness. He is relatively quick and a good dribbler and strong finisher, capable of excellent goals such as the strike against Trabzonspor we witnessed earlier this season.
Comments
Post a Comment