A Chelsea colleague of the talented Belgian forward believes his exploits in the Premier League can position him alongside the current global elite
Eden Hazard may struggle to match the goalscoring exploits of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but Cesar Azpilicueta believes the Chelsea forward is capable of becoming “the best”.
The Belgium international has enjoyed a stunning start to the 2018-19 campaign, finding the target five times in as many games – with that haul including a hat-trick against Cardiff.
Maurizio Sarri has already suggested that the 27-year-old could be considered the finest player in Europe, while also challenging him to net 40 times this season.
Azpilicueta believes reaching that target will be tough in the Premier League, but is convinced that Stamford Bridge's talisman can join the global elite at the very top of the game.
The Spanish defender told the Daily Mail: “I know Eden, we came here together and I played against him in France so I have seen him for a long time but, yes, I'm sure he can be the best.
“He has that quality of eliminating defenders. It's amazing.
“But this season he is adding goals and assists. Sometimes he was playing very good but maybe not selfish; he always gives passes to team-mates.
“Messi, Cristiano, they score 50 goals a year and that is very difficult in England. But from his point of view, if he's more aggressive in the box by scoring goals and making assists, he will be the top of his game.
“In normal play he can create chances. It looks very easy. He goes quick, he scores with both feet.
“Eden has all the qualities to be the best. And his personality as well, the way he behaves.
“He's the best player in the team but the way he respects everyone, he's a normal person. That's amazing to have the best player and his behaviour and everyone loves him in the club. That's as important as his work on the pitch.”
Hazard has helped Chelsea to burst out of the blocks in the current campaign, with 15 points collected from five Premier League outings to date.
It is hoped that those standards can be maintained, with Azpilicueta looking for the Blues to avoid slipping far behind Manchester City again and land him a third English top-flight title.
He added: “The gap was very big and obviously it was a disappointing season in the Premier League because we missed out on the Champions League.
“It's up to us to close that gap. We have to work hard and if we keep working the way we are doing, we can be close to City.
“We have to show it on the pitch. Off the pitch it's silly to talk about. Two years ago, when we won the title, it was opposite. We were top of the table and they couldn't get us.
“Mentality is key in winning the league. It's a very tough league and you have to fight against very good teams. No team give you any gifts. The moment to tell about this is on the pitch — and in May.”
Chelsea are back in Premier League action on Sunday when they travel to West Ham, with victory by at least two clear goals required in that contest to life them back above Liverpool at the top of the table.
Iamtom_davidonIG
94
In football, being the best is about goals and achievement. If Hazard wanna be the best, he needs achievements plus goals. It ain't advisable for us to hope that Hazard depends on achievement to become the best, cause all the others did it with goals. Well this season is out of it for him if he wanna do it without goals; #Champions league, unavailable. #World cup is passed #Maybe UEFA national league, but no assurance. So he needs goals to be realistic.
lotogbe21
69
Is a good player and trying is best. Let him score 50 in one season, & then we can talk about him. Right now, all the talk is about him being one of the best in the world & having the potential to score 50 goals a season, he's already 27-28, & hasn't come close yet, having the potential & delivering is a different things
ZaakirBhamjee777
69
Hazard does not have to be the one with the game as Ronaldo and Messi. All he needs to do is show us what his made of.
RapNig
67
No he can't. can messi match cr7 without banging in 50. can cr7 match messi without banging in 50. What makes messi and cr7 special and the best of the best is their consistency and killer instinct Messi and cr7 have banged in 50 plus goals for club and country for the past 10 years. Messi had a 91 goal years. he has also assisted 35 in a year once. cr7 has also had a 69 goal year. Why should hazards benchmark be so low. you can be in the zizou or kaka level but messi and cr7 are above that level. For Hazard to be at messi and cr7 level 1. score 50 goals and 10 assists for 6 seasons minimum 2. Have 30 trophies( he has like 7) Messi has 34 and cr7 has 28 3. Have at least 2 golden boots (Messi has 5 cr7 has 4) 4. Should win the ucl not once but 3 times 5. Either win an international trophy or be the best player at 2 different international tournaments. (Cr7 has the euros and messi has 2 best player awards at the FIFA world cup and the copa America plus a goldmedal) Once he fulfills all of this, he can enter the discussion. right now he hasn't even scratched the surface. It's not by being inconsistent
shray_srivastava
65
Let him score 50 in one season, & then we can talk about him. Right now, all the talk is about him being one of the best in the world & having the potential to score 50 goals a season, he's already 27-28, & hasn't come close yet, having the potential & delivering is a different thing.
godykemanutd
63
Hazard is one among the best players around but he is not in the same class with Ronaldo and Messi and may never be. Can Hazard dominate or be nominated for World Footballer of the years for 10 straight years, can he break the goal scoring exploit of Ronaldo and Messi, can he win the European and domestic golden boot?. with all these in mind, it is very clear that Hazard is not in the class of Messinaldo. Hazard still have a very long way to go before he could be in the same class with this G.O.A.TS.
shray_srivastava
42
You people are deluded. So 50 goals+ makes you the best player? this is everything that's wrong with football. I remember when they used to give the ballon dor to the player who did everything at the highest level but now it just goes to whoever scores the most goals. Totally absurd and all the fault of clueless fans who think putting the ball in the back of the net makes the player better than another who defends, passes, dribbles, keeps etc.
He may be a big player in his team, but the big boys play in Champions League & prove their mettle their, go & see Hazards record in the Champions League. According to your logic goal scorer Ronaldo doesn't deserve awards & accolades because all he does is score goals.
shray_srivastava
42
seriously modric is not really the guy to break Messi and Ronaldo domination for ten years ..by winning that fifa best. ...it baffles me when they nominated him at the top
Griezman deserves the Ballon dor this year, Europa League winner, World Cup winner, 2nd in league ahead of Real. He scored in Semis for Atletico & in finals for both France at the world cup & Atletico in Europa League. He deserves it before anyone.
Don5000
40
Every time they say he Will be the best one day and time continues to fly and pass by. Let's see if he is luckier this season. As for me all those sayings are pure speculations. There is nothing like it's difficult to score 40-50 goals in England. it's very possible. I'm sure he knows his ultimate level and his teammates too know that so they should stop speculating.
shray_srivastava
14
If I may ask you,how many goals does Modric scored last season that his contesting for World best player?
A player is recognised by the amount of trophies his team wins not by how many goals he's scored, Chelsea may be good enough to make a mark in EPL, but are no where close in Champions League, how many goals does Hazard score in Champions League matches for Chelsea? You got to ask yourself being a Chelsea fan because, that's where you're judged as an individual.