Well, that was surely a shock to the system hearing that the one and only prodigious Eden Hazard was eager on a move to White Hart Lane. Surely Philippe Auclair was just having Tottenham Hotspur fans on when he tweeted that the Belgian had revealed to France Football that he was ready to move to White Hart Lane.
Translating the quotes; all seemed to be exactly what we wanted to hear. Spurs are a great English club, they play nice football (something we already knew), but it was surely too good to be true? In fact, it was. Hazard denied talks had taken place, but when push came to shove, he admitted, with a straight face I might like to add, that a move to North London could be a real possibility, preferring the Lilywhites to the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City due to first-team opportunities.
Some believe it is a move that wouldn’t happen, not for a million years in fact. But, his quotes sound promising. Spurs are clearly turning heads across Europe this season with the football currently on show at White Hart Lane something similar to that of the great Bill Nicholson double winning side in 1961, or so I’m told. The presentable opportunity of first-team football will surely persuade him to join Harry Redknapp’s revolution in N17.
One major flaw to any move would, of course, be funds. Lille are thought to demanding anything in the region of €30m and upwards. Fortunately, with Belgium not taking part in this summer’s European Championships, that fee is unlikely to rise at an astronomical rate. Many are wondering whether or not he would be worth the fee. In short, the answer if a firm and frank yes. To the Lane and Back isn’t a fan of simply taking the Sven Goran-Eriksson approach and YouTubing a player to determine his quality, but even from glancing at some of his videos; it’s evident that he is an exceptional talent to be.
Watching Lille this season, he is central to the efforts of the defending Ligue 1 champions, with 11 goals and seven assists in 33 games signifying how much of a creative influence he is. His dribbling capabilities are almost Lionel Messi-esc and he appears very, very powerful and confident on the ball. The general consensus of numerous Spurs fans is that he will come in to replace Luka Modric at the end of the season.
This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Hazard and Modric are both two different players with the former preferring to come in from the wing. Should he arrive, and that is a big should, he will surely take his place on the right at the expense of Aaron Lennon, as much as it pains me to say it considering the pint-sized winger has been in instrumental form under Redknapp this campaign.
But, the fact of the matter is; Hazard is a better player. More direct, more clinical in front of goal and better at finding a team-mate with a cross. Should a deal already be in the pipeline, as has been speculated, it will be very, very similar to the Modric deal in 2008, where the move was completed on the down-low before the transfer window opened and amidst much talk as to where the Croatian was going to move to following a hugely impressive Euro 2008.
Whether it is a ploy by the prodigious winger to secure a move to a larger club, who knows. But, what I do know is that yes, I would love Hazard to be turning out in Spurs colours next season. A real indication as to our intentions would be to sign the youngster and to ensure none of the North Londoners rivals swoop in at the last minute and snare him away from White Hart Lane, Levy needs to move quickly in order to secure his signature. Because yes, Eden Hazard is going to be a massive, massive player in the game over the next five years.