Chelsea v West Ham: Jose Mourinho tips Eden Hazard to challenge Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for Ballon d'Or
Chelsea manager tips the Belgian to be among the world's best in near future
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, believes it is only a matter of time before Eden Hazard is seriously challenging Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d'Or.
Hazard, who joined Chelsea from Lille for £32m in 2012, has thrived under Mourinho this term and is the club's leading scorer with 11 goals. He was named in the 23-man shortlist for this year's award, voted for by coaches, national captains and media, which was won by Ronaldo this month.
"If he wants to be a great, great player and arrive where Cristiano and Messi arrives, he has the space to go – he's 23, and Cristiano is 28, Messi 26. They are still young players, but a few years older than Eden. So he has space for evolution. I think there's a great ambition for him," Mourinho said.
"Eden is a winger, a pure winger. OK, we are giving him freedom to go to other areas, but he's an attacking winger. If he can be a match-winner, he can go there."
Chelsea will be attempting to secure an eighth successive win, their sixth in the Premier League, at home to West Ham United. Their form is in stark contrast to that of West Ham, who are in the bottom three with just four victories in the top flight all season. But Mourinho is not taking anything for granted.
He added: "I look at West Ham and I see them in trouble in the table, but I look at them and see a difficult match."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments