He’s no big Ed! But £32m star knows exactly what he wants

MY LILLE OLD HOME ... Eden Hazard's flat

“But he needed to get bigger physically. It was tough. Anderlecht wanted him too. For a year and a half we spoke with the parents and, in the end, he came to us at 14. He really was extraordinary — both as a player and a person.

“When we signed the first contract he told me everything he wanted to achieve. He wanted to pack the crowds in and excite them. He said ‘when I will be 16, I’ll be in the first team’. I thought he was crazy. But he did it.”

Hazard, true to his word, made his debut at the age of just 16 at Nancy in 2007 and became an instant hit.

The amazing skill, balance and quality were there for all to see.

Yet, like all players with magic in their boots, he needs to be treated with care.

A now infamous bust-up with the national team which saw him scoffing burgers after being subbed after 60 minutes of a clash with Turkey last year sparked debates about his temperament.

But Vandamme said: “The Belgian team didn’t manage him well, they didn’t respect him. You can’t treat him like the others. He’s the man of the match, not the man of the training.

“When he decided that he would make it, there were some problems with his physical training. All the coaches were a bit unhappy. So one day I spoke to him and told him to say ‘when you have a bad day, just try and do it again. It worked.”

It did indeed.

In 2011, Hazard’s wondershows helped Lille bag their first title since 1954.

All the big guns wanted him. Chelsea got their man after another stunning season last term but Vandamme added: “He will need time to settle and learn English.

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