Chelsea Legends v Liverpool Legends
Who was Eden Hazard’s most underrated teammate? (Picture: Getty Images)
Eden Hazard played with some of the best players in the world during his stellar career with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Belgium and it is an international teammate that stood out as the most underrated.
Still just 35 years old, Hazard has been retired since 2023 when he left the Spanish giants.
It was a disappointing spell in Madrid after the club agreed a deal with Chelsea which could have been worth £150m if he had met all the add-on clauses.
The Belgian only ended up playing 76 times for Real Madrid, scoring seven goals, but did win the Champions League and La Liga twice.
In Spain he played alongside the likes of Vinicius Jr, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos.
At Chelsea he played with Frank Lampard, John Terry, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole and plenty more stars.
He was also part of the superb generation of Belgian players which featured the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany and Romelu Lukaku.
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Belgium in 2014 were a force to be reckoned with (Picture: Getty Images)
‘One of the best midfielders of that generation’
Hazard feels they all get the credit they deserve, though, while there is another international teammate who does not.
Former Tottenham and Fulham standout Mousa Dembele had plenty of admirers, but wasn’t quite seen as elite level and only won a league title once, with AZ in the Netherlands.
While he may not have been viewed widely as world class, Hazard believes he was comparable to the top midfielders of his pomp years.
‘I always thought Mousa Dembélé was one of the best midfielders of that generation,’ Hazard told The Guardian.
‘People didn’t talk about him much because he didn’t score goals, but the fans in the Premier League know he was a top, top player.’
Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
Moussa Dembele played 250 games for Tottenham, scoring 10 goals (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Probably the best player on the ball I’ve ever seen’
Another man who worked closely with Dembele rated him extremely highly as former Fulham boss Martin Jol made a huge claim about the Belgian.
‘We’ve had a few players over the last few years who are a class above,’ said Jol after Dembele left the Cottagers for Spurs.
‘Dembele is probably the best player on the ball I’ve ever seen, and we lost him.’
Manchester United v Chelsea - Premier League
Jose Mourinho and Eden Hazard won the Premier League together in 2015 (Picture: Getty Images)
Hazard was looking back on his career, saying he is ‘more of a taxi driver’ now as he has five children to look after.
The 126-cap Belgium international recalls working with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, remembering getting into the Special One’s bad books thanks to his carelessness.
‘I don’t have just one, I have many,’ he said of tales of his time with Mourinho. ‘I remember once, during the first year Mourinho arrived, I went to Lille to watch a game and lost my passport on the way back.
‘I wasn’t allowed back into England and missed training. I returned around 2pm. When the session was over, I had to apologise to him. It was a really bad moment for me.
‘The next week, he pulled me out of the team and said it was my fault, but by the weekend I was back playing and it went well.’
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