Former Chelsea winger Joe Cole has hailed Eden Hazard as the best player in the Premier League.
The Belgian has been Chelsea’s star player once again this season, finding good attacking form under new manager Maurizio Sarri – though not nearly as consistent as the Italian had hoped at the start of the season.
Is Hazard the best player in the Premier League? Five key things to know…
- Hazard signed for Chelsea in 2012 from Lille after a drawn-out transfer saga featured around Twitter.
- The Belgian has since become a key member of the Chelsea squad, proving irreplaceable on the left wing.
- Hazard has scored 12 goals so far in the Premier League this season, more than any other Chelsea player.
- And Cole believes Hazard is the best player both at Chelsea and in the Premier League.
- Eden Hazard is the only player in the Premier League to have both scored 10+ goals and recorded 10+ assists this season.
Hazard was key in Chelsea’s 5-0 win over struggling Huddersfield, scoring twice to take his Premier League tally to 12 for the season – 26% of Chelsea’s total goals.
And Cole, who spent seven years at Chelsea between 2003 and 2010, believes Hazard is the best player in the Premier League.
“I said when he signed that he would be the greatest player the club has ever had and I still stand by that,” he told the Mirror.
“I still believe that. My team mates and my colleagues have been amazing but Eden is the best player I’ve ever worked with.
“When you look at what he’s done in the short space of time that he’s been there. He’s been an unbelievable player. I think he’s the best player in the league and I think he’s a top, top player and it’s important the club keep hold of him.”
Cole has previously been hailed as having played a part in Hazard choosing Chelsea in 2012 when he was playing alongside the Belgian at Lille. And the 37-year-old spoke of his influence and just why he pushed Hazard towards his former club over the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City.
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He added: “I played with him when I was at Lille and he was being courted by all the top clubs in Europe and Harry Redknapp was talking to me about him because Tottenham wanted him. Everyone wanted him – Man United, Man City and I just felt Chelsea was the right home for him.
“I told him if he wanted to win trophies which he has done and develop as a player. London is close to Belgium on the Eurostar, I felt it was the right fit and I knew the fans would love him.”
Cole’s love for Hazard goes to 2011
This is not the first time Cole has come out to praise Hazard, with whom he spent a season during 2011 and 2012.
Cole played alongside the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Gianfranco Zola and Didier Drogba among many other talented stars during his career. But the Englishman has always tipped Hazard as the best team-mate he had.
Speaking in January 2017, Cole said: “He’s certainly the most talented all-round footballer I’ve played with and he’s already a hero with the fans.
“I hope he stays there for the rest of his career. I was so happy when he signed for Chelsea.
“My first game in France with Lille, Rudi Garcia was saying to me ‘we’ve got this good kid’.
“He said ‘I want you to play with him’ and then he scored two of the best goals you’ll see within 20 minutes.
“I came on the pitch and set up a goal, we won 3-1 at St-Etienne, and in the interview afterwards – it must have been his only English word at the time – he kept saying ‘my brother, my brother’.
“He’s a nice kind, he’s got a nice way about him, he loves training, he loves football and everyone in that dressing room in France loved him.”
The post “He’s the best player in the league” – Joe Cole heaps praise on Eden Hazard appeared first on Squawka News.
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