Thorgan Hazard: “I want to win a title”

Thorgan Hazard joined Borussia Dortmund for €25.5m this summer. The 26-year-old midfielder has adopted BVB’s ambitious approach to the season.

Hazard arrived in Dortmund at the heel of a season that saw him score an impressive 10 goals and 11 assists despite a slower second half of the season.

Thus far, Hazard’s pre-season has been rather quiet, which is why tactics expert Constantin Eckner described him as BVB’s most underrated summer acquisition in this week’s Yellowwallpod.

Though there is very little doubt that BVB fans expect Hazard to play a leading role in the pursuit of a Bundesliga title in the 2019-20 season.

Knowing Favre an advantage

In an interview with WAZ, the midfielder spoke about how knowing Favre from his Gladbach days might be helpful: “I know what he wants and how he works. Maybe that’s an advantage,” Hazard said, adding: “and because he speaks French, he might be able to better explain certain things to me.”

Like fellow summer signing Julian Brandt, Hazard admitted that he prefers to play centrally despite having spent most stretches of the previous season on the left wing.

He said: “The coach knows me and knows that I prefer to play centrally. But I also feel comfortable on the wing.”

Hazard has appeared as a striker in several mock-XI but his chances to actually appear centrally in midfield are slim with Marco Reus and Julian Brandt arguably more suited for that role. However, with BVB’s highly fluid attack no position will be set in stone.

Bigger, better BVB

In the interview, the Belgian talks about the differences between his previous and new club: “Dortmund are bigger and the sporting level is higher. They have bigger resources and higher ambitions.”

After closely finishing in second place behind Bayern Munich, the Black and Yellows have made no secret about their goal to win the Bundesliga this time around. Hazard mirrored that sentiment: “I want to play a lot and help the team to a title. For that, I have to score and assist goals.