:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44291948/459118968.0.jpg)
In journalistic terms, this story falls somewhere between "slow news day" and "puff piece", but it is fun, and makes one of our players look great, so we're going with it. As announced by the club on Twitter, Eden Hazard has gifted the youth players of his hometown - and first - club Royal Stade Brainois with some cool, new apparel from Nike.
Le grand St Nicolas a encore bien gâté nos jeunes joueurs cette année! Énorme merci a lui... @hazardeden10 pic.twitter.com/qr854XexTv
— Royal Stade Brainois (@RSB_343) December 7, 2014
You see, Saturday was St. Nicholas Day in Belgium, which is the main gift-giving holiday, rather than Christmas...at least for children. In that respect, Hazard has acted as a pint-sized Sinterklaas and given the youth team the generous gift. Of course, as a heavily-compensated athlete - who happens to have an endorsement contract with the manufacturer of the gifted apparel - it's not as if he's made a great personal sacrifice, but, for the kids of a small-town Belgian club, it's undoubtedly a huge gesture.
No matter the origin of the gift, though, it's the thought that counts. He's on his third club since then, and a global superstar. Nobody would be overly-surprised if he "forgot" his roots. He hasn't though, which is both great to see and a superb demonstration of how grounded a person he is, despite his fame and fortune.