Kylian Hazard (; born 5 August 1995) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for

RWDM RWDM may refer to: * Royal White Daring Molenbeek, a former football club which dissolved in 2002 after financial difficulties. * RWDM47, a football club founded in 2015 to reinstate the history of the former club. See also * R.W.D.M. Brussels F.C. ...

. He has two older brothers, Eden and Thorgan, and one younger, Ethan, all of whom are footballers.

Early life

Hazard was born in

La Louvière La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Hou ...

and grew up in

Braine-le-Comte Braine-le-Comte (; nl, ’s-Gravenbrakel, ; wa, Brinne-e-Hinnot) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is whic ...

. His mother, Carine, and father, Thierry, were both footballers playing in Belgium. His father spent most of his career playing as a semi-professional for

in the

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

. He played mainly as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His mother played as a striker in the Belgian Women's First Division and stopped playing when she was three months pregnant with her eldest son Eden Hazard. After playing football, both parents became sports teachers. Thierry retired from his position in 2009 in order to devote more time to his children. Kylian is the third of four children. His eldest brother, Eden, previously played for

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

in France,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in England and now plays for Real Madrid in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. His other elder brother, Thorgan, joined Eden at

in 2012 before moving to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

in 2015. Thorgan moved to Dortmund in May 2019 (summer transfer window) and had previously progressed through the youth ranks of Lille's biggest rivals

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

. His younger brother Ethan currently plays in the youth academy of

Tubize Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density ...

, where Eden, Thorgan and Kylian all played earlier in their lives. Kylian and his three brothers were raised in a comfortable environment with their parents ensuring they had whatever they needed to excel. The family lived "no more than three meters" from a football training ground and the brothers often ventured onto a training pitch through a small hole in order to hone and develop their skills. Hazard began his professional career at White Star Bruxelles, joining the club in 2013 from the

academy where he spent two years.

Club career

After spending one season in the

, it was announced on 25 June 2014 that Hazard joined Pro League side Zulte Waregem on a two-year contract, with an option to extend the contract for another season. In signing for Zulte Waregem, Hazard followed in the footsteps of his older brother Thorgan, who spent two seasons there on loan from

, and linked up with

Jonathan Benteke Jonathan Benteke Lifeka (born 28 April 1995) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a forward for American club Loudoun United FC. Career Early career Benteke played youth football for JS Pierreuse before moving to the higher level Standard Liè ...

, whose brother

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

is also a Belgian international. Hazard made his professional debut for Zulte Waregem on 7 August 2014, replacing Ibrahima Conté after 69 minutes against Belarusian side Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. He could not help prevent his team from crashing out in the tournament after a 2–2 draw and a 7–4 loss on aggregate. Hazard made his first start for Zulte Waregem on 21 January 2015 against

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

in second leg of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

; the match ended in a 4-2 loss. He played only 5 games for Zulte Waregem. On 27 June 2015, Hazard signed a three-year contract with Hungarian side

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

. Hazard made his debut on 18 July 2015 against

Paksi FC Paksi FC (''Paks'') () is a Hungarian football club based in Paks. Since its founding in 1952, it has played at either a county or national level. In 2006, it ascended to '' Borsodi Liga'', or NB I, the top division in Hungarian football, for th ...

which ended in a 0–0 draw. On 21 November 2015, Hazard scored his first goal in a 2–1 away victory over Honvéd. On 29 August 2017, Hazard joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

, and was put in the club's development squad. Despite reports suggesting Hazard had left Chelsea after a year, he agreed a new two-year deal and was sent out on loan to

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

on a season-long loan. On 5 May 2019, it was announced that Hazard's spell at Cercle Brugge would be made permanent as of 1 July 2019. In January 2021, he was demoted to the reserves for disciplinary reasons. On 31 January 2022, Hazard was loaned to

until the end of the season, with an option to buy. He made his competitive debut for the club on 13 February, coming on as a substitute for

Thomas Ephestion Thomas Ephestion (born 9 June 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Mezőkövesdi SE. Born in metropolitan France, he plays for the Martinique national team. Club career On 27 January 2021, ...

in the 79th minute of a 1–0

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

win over

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, ...

. Following the loan, Cercle Brugge terminated his contract and he signed a new two-year contract with RWDM.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Kylian 1995 births Living people Association football midfielders People from La Louvière Belgian footballers Belgian expatriate footballers Lille OSC players RWS Bruxelles players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Újpest FC players Chelsea F.C. players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players RWDM47 players Belgian Pro League players Belgian First Division B players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Hungary Footballers from Hainaut (province) Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Hazard family