The Belgium international has been backed to continue his improvement by his old team-mate
Former Chelsea captain John Terry believes Eden Hazard still has room for improvement but merits being ranked alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed a stellar start to the new campaign, scoring five goals in six appearances for Maurizio Sarri’s Blues.
Hazard’s impressive run of form follows him winning the Silver Ball award at the World Cup as Belgium finished third in Russia.
To further underline his recent form, the Chelsea star was named in the FIFPro team of the year ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah
But the former Lille winger continues to divide opinion having been unable to show the same consistency as Ronaldo or Messi, although Terry feels he deserves to be ranked among the illustrious duo.
“A couple of people recently are coming out and saying he’s not kind of the finished article,” the ex-England skipper, who played with Hazard for five years at Stamford Bridge, told AS .
“But believe me he really is and he’s up there with Messi and Ronaldo without a shadow of a doubt.
“I’ve seen him day in, day out for the last five/six years and he’s a top, top player and he will only get better as well.”
Sarri may have only arrived at Chelsea in the summer after replacing Antonio Conte but he is already convinced Hazard is the best player in Europe.
“I thought that Hazard was one of the best players in Europe but now I change my mind,” he said after Hazard scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Cardiff City earlier this month.
“Maybe he is the best and he can improve more.”
Hazard is likely to have another chance to impress as Chelsea begin their Carabao Cup campaign against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday.