Eden Hazard makes surprising choice when naming most talented player he ever played with

Eden Hazard played with quite the array of talent throughout his football career but the Chelsea legend gave a surprising choice when naming the most talented player he played alongside.

The now retired attacker began his career at French club Lille, before making the move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2012 for a reported £32m.

It proved to be money well invested for Chelsea as Hazard went on to score 110 goals in 352 games for the club across all competitions as he became one of the best players in the Premier League.

In that time, Hazard won several pieces of silverware with Chelsea including two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Europa League twice.

Hazard left Chelsea in the summer of 2019 to move to Real Madrid, with the Stamford Bridge side pocketing an initial €100m transfer fee.

However, Hazard was unable to hit the heights at the Santiago Bernabeu that he managed at Stamford Bridge, experiencing struggles with fitness and it led to a decline in his form on the pitch.

Hazard scored only seven goals in 76 appearances for Los Blancos across four seasons.

Despite his contract still having a year left to run, Hazard left Real Madrid in the summer of 2023 after his deal was cancelled by mutual agreement.

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Hazard announced his retirement from professional football last year a few months after his Real departure at the age of 32.

Hazard also scored 33 goals in 126 caps for Belgium, being part of the nation's 'Golden Generation' alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany and Thibaut Courtois.

Throughout his career for both club and country, Hazard played with quite the array of talent - but he gave a surprising answer when asked about the most talented player he played alongside.

And that player is winger Gael Kakuta, who joined Chelsea in 2007 from Lens but made just a handful of appearances for the West London club, before leaving permanently in 2015.

Kakuta, now aged 33, currently plays for Iranian side Esteghlal and is a DR Congo international.

And Hazard explained on the Obi One podcast why he felt Kakuta was the most talented player he played with and also why things did not work out for him at Chelsea.

He said: "Most talented player I've played alongside? Gael Kakuta. The only one I was saying 'wow' was Gael Kakuta."

"'You asked me talent. Kakuta, by, far number one. Talent. I mean, talent. Wow.

"You know I played against him a lot because I used to play at Lille, he was playing in Lens. In the north of France that's a derby.

"Me being me, we used to win every game, 5-0, 6-0, me being best player ever time. Then we play against him - we're losing the game! He's the best player? What?! That's not normal.

"Now it's easy to say but I think he went a bit too early to Chelsea. I think he was 16. That step at 16 is a huge step."