Tuesday, 16th September, 2014
Eden Hazard has revealed that Ajax wanted to take him into their youth ranks when he was 12 years old.
The Belgian, who is now at Chelsea and rated as one of the top talents in European football, caught the eye of Ajax and PSV Eindhoven scouts with his performances for his first club, Royal Stade Brainois.
His promising displays led Ajax and PSV Eindhoven to invite him for trials, while the interest from the Amsterdam side was of a "concrete" nature, Hazard says.
"I still remember that Ajax were concrete", he told Voetbal International.
"I was 12 years old and I went with my amateur side to a tournament at Standard Liege.
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"I think I played quite well because Ajax, one of the other participants, did some checking up.
"Anyway, ultimately it did not happen and two years later I went to join the youth team at Lille."
Hazard flourished at Lille, rising through the ranks to be voted the Best Player in Ligue 1 for two consecutive seasons.
He moved to Chelsea for €40m in 2012.
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