Chelsea made a signing who looked just as exciting as Eden Hazard but turned out to be a disaster

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In the summer of 2012, Chelsea signed Eden Hazard from Lille following their Champions League triumph in Munich.

For many, the Belgian is the most talented footballer to have ever played for the Blues.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry recently spoke about Hazard, claiming that he is someone that he would happily pay to watch.

Hazard, though, was not the only exciting arrival at Stamford Bridge ahead of the 2012/13 season.

• READ MORE: Eden Hazard recalls John Terry gesture that shocked him on first day at Chelsea

Marko Marin couldn’t live up to the hype

Chelsea also signed Brazilian wonderkid Oscar and Marko Marin the same summer that Hazard joined the club, with the latter arriving with the tag of “German Messi”.

In Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States, it was not hard to see how Marin earned that nickname.

For example, the former Germany international was terrific in Chelsea’s friendly against Seattle Sounders as he tore through their defence.

Of course, the MLS side were not the strongest opposition, but Chelsea supporters would have been very encouraged after seeing him score a goal and register an assist.

Unfortunately for them, the form that Marin showed in America never translated over to the Premier League.

The 36-year-old went on to make just 16 appearances for the Blues before leaving the club for Olympiacos permanently in 2016.

The way Marin was dribbling in those first few Chelsea friendlies, he looked almost as exciting as Hazard.

Today, the current Club World Cup holders have another attacker who has been compared to Lionel Messi: Estevao Willian.

He is still 18 and only arrived in England during the summer, but there are already calls for Estevao to start more often.

Based on what the young Brazilian has shown in a Chelsea shirt so far, he is more likely to be the next Hazard or even Messi than another Marin.

What Marko Marin is doing right now

Since leaving Chelsea and retiring, Marin has taken up the role of technical director at Red Star Belgrade.

He spent some time at the Serbian club as a player, with his spell there being much more successful than his one at Chelsea.

The German Messi had a lot of talent; Chelsea and English football just did not get to see it.

Marin cost the Blues less than £10m, though, so given the talent that he did possess, it was always worth a punt.