Chelsea supporters may enjoy hearing that Eden Hazard preferred Cole Palmer over Mohamed Salah in one key skill.
Retired winger Eden Hazard, 34, was the face of Chelsea during his playing career at Stamford Bridge. That position has since been filled by Cole Palmer since he joined the Blues from Manchester City in 2023.
Last year, Palmer admitted he would have loved to play alongside Hazard, which would have been a nightmare for opposition teams.
Player Appearances Goals Assists Trophies
Eden Hazard 352 110 88 6
Cole Palmer 101 45 29 2
Eden Hazard vs Cole Palmer records at Chelsea
The exciting thing is that attacking midfielder Palmer, 23, still has his prime years ahead of him.
As for Mohamed Salah, the right-winger has established himself as a Premier League and Liverpool legend. Of course, Chelsea supporters will want to forget that he had a brief spell with them earlier in his career.
The 33-year-old’s record speaks for itself. In 411 Liverpool appearances, Salah has 248 goals and 116 assists.
Even so, Hazard prefers Palmer over Salah in one specific area.
Eden Hazard plays in a World Legends v Hong Kong Legends match.
Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Eden Hazard picks Cole Palmer as a better dribbler than Mohamed Salah
During an interview via the Premier League’s official X account, Hazard was tasked with selecting the best dribbles from some current stars in the division.
Ultimately, he went with Chelsea’s Palmer over Liverpool’s Salah as his final selection.
In fairness, Hazard may be a little biased towards Palmer because of his Chelsea allegiances. However, in terms of pure dribbling, he can glide across the pitch with the ball stuck to his feet.
Salah, who’s one of the most devastating forwards the Premier League has ever seen, has always been about efficiency, power and timing. We’re intrigued to see if Palmer can ever get close to Salah’s overall level as his career progresses. If he keeps fit and continues to develop, he’s got the football brain and talent to do special things.
Owen Hargreaves claims Palmer improves the higher the level goes up, which is why we’re desperate to see him play a major role for England at the 2026 World Cup tournament next summer.
Chelsea star Cole Palmer dribbles past referee Stuart Attwell during a Premier League match against West Ham.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Estevao Willian makes sense as a Cole Palmer replacement
With Cole Palmer out injured for another four Chelsea matches, there is an obvious hole in the number 10 position.
Even though Estevao Willian, 18, is a right-winger by trade, he’s got the ability to play in a more central role. In fact, his profile as a creative attacker with eye-catching dribbling makes him a like-for-like replacement for Palmer.
It could be entertaining for Estevao to be unleashed more centrally when the Blues travel to Nottingham Forest this Saturday in the Premier League.