Younger brother Kylian wants to live up to the Hazard family name

There is plenty of footballing talent up and down the Hazard family tree. Eden may be the juiciest of the bunch, but others are ripening into their own as well.

Younger brother Thorgan, once of the Chelsea Loan Army, continues to carve out a strong career for himself in Germany, now in his fifth season at Borussia Monchengladbach, and is becoming a regular part of the Belgium national team as well. Youngest brother Ethan, perhaps soon of the Chelsea Loan Army is starting to show similar promise at 15.

And then there is Kylian, the somewhat forgotten middle brother who spent time in Hungary before a knee injury took him out of contention for the better part of a year. At his oldest brother’s behest, Chelsea signed him a the start of last season, helped him get back on his feet (literally and figuratively) and after signing him to a two-year contract extension, sent him on his first loan assignment this summer, back home to Belgium to Cercle Brugge.

Having made his league debut last weekend as a substitute in a 4-2 loss to powerhouse Anderlecht, Kylian is ready to start growing his own legacy on the family tree.

“I’m getting used to it, it’s been a long time since I played with the name ‘Hazard’ on my back. The coach, he’s talking to me as Kylian. That’s the most important thing for me.

“Cercle Brugge are a team in which I can show my qualities. I did not come to spend a year of vacation in Belgium. I came here to be a starter. [...] I do not worry because I like football.

“In today’s football, we play a lot for statistics. I play for good football. I want to amuse on a field and I want the fans to have fun too. I think it’s from family, we’re good at saying that.”

-Kylian Hazard; source: RTBF via Google Translate

Sounds like a Hazard alright.

At age 23, Kylian still has time to live up to the family name and step out of the shadow cast by Eden, and to a lesser extent, by Thorgan, and we wish him all the best of luck in that quest.