Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Chelsea news: Forget Messi and Ronaldo, Hazard not even as good as Mbappe or Bale - Hislop
CHELSEA star Eden Hazard is not even in the top five players in European football, claims former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
Sarri claims Eden Hazard is 'very happy' at Chelsea
Hazard scored a hat-trick in Chelsea’s 4-1 Premier League win over Cardiff on Saturday.
That led to his manager Maurizio Sarri claiming the Belgian was the best player in Europe.
“I thought Hazard was one of the best players in Europe but now I am changing my mind that he is the best,” Sarri said.
But Hislop has named five other players who he thinks are better than 27-year-old Chelsea forward.
Just below them you’ve got Mbappe and Bale and Neymar. Hazard I think is just outside of that
The pundit still believes Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Juventus new-boy Cristiano Ronaldo are out on their own at the top.
And Hislop reckons Paris Saint-Germain duo Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, as well as Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, are also all ahead of Eden Hazard.
“I understand where Sarri’s coming from and I understand why he’s saying that,” Hislop said on ESPN FC.
“It is his player after all and it was Cardiff after all.
“Don’t get me wrong, he is one of the best players in European football.
“There is a tier that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo sit on.
“And then just below them you’ve got Mbappe and Bale and Neymar. Hazard I think is just outside of that.
“This is no disrespect to Eden Hazard, these are some of the best players the world has ever seen.
“He’s just outside of that and certainly in English football, there are few players who can individually change a game, who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and the opposition have little that they can do about it, like Eden Hazard.
“But like I say, there are those who are maybe just on a tier just above.
“Hazard is close but not there just yet.”