‘TINTIN’ BRÜLS HAS TALENT TO BURN

Christian Brüls, the small, popular midfielder is known to his Nice team-mates as Tintin and is a Belgian heading for fame in Ligue 1.Sharing a nationality and hair colour with the fictional reporter made the sobriquet inevitable and Brüls doesn't mind one bit-He told BeIN Sport's The Ligue 1 Show: "Tintin is a young and intelligent boy, who became very famous so I don't see anything wrong with that nickname."

On loan from Belgian club Gent, Brüls has been a key figure for Nice this season. Alongside captain Didier Digard, the 25-year-old midfielder has played all fourteen games for the Mediterranean club, developing a fruitful partnership with top scorer Dario Cvitanich and establishing himself as a fans' favourite.Excitingly for Les Aiglons fans, Nice coach Claude Puel believes there's more to come from the 25-year-old who's scored once and contributed three assists so far this season, all of them for Cvitanich goals including the last two goals Lille conceded in the league back in mid-September (see above video).Puel said: "Christian is a special talent who still needs to work on his consistency and get a bit stronger. But he's made good progress since the start of the season. He's a player who really listens and wants to get better. He does a lot of extra work after training. At some point it's going to pay off. There's nothing to worry about."

An area he could definitely improve is his goal-scoring. In 262 career appearances Brüls has only scored 25 goals, with only one in 14 so far for Nice.Brüls admitted: "I've never scored a lot, everywhere I've been. It's not my main strength but I want to work hard at it and improve. Scoring is the most important thing in football so it's obviously something I need to work on."Hard-working on the pitch and and likeable off it, Brüls has already made a positive contribution. The playmaker is going to have to have a sensational season to force his way into a strong Belgium squad for next summer's World Cup. But for now, his priority is his club future and sealing a permanent move to Nice. He said: "I'm on loan but my aim is to stay here for a longer period."

‘TINTIN’ BRÜLS HAS TALENT TO BURN