Curtis Jones admitted he was playing with fire when he lauded Eden Hazard - claiming he was "a better footballer" than .

The midfielder, a graduate of the club's academy, has continued to blossom in a team that has set the pace in the . Jones was quizzed by on the players he's looked to for inspiration, originally citing Zinedine Zidane.

He then hailed , who is idolised by those at Anfield, but also underline his admiration for Hazard, who shone during his time at . The Belgian was at the Blues for seven years and won numerous team and individual awards during that time.

In 2014 he was named the PFA Player of the Year and often stood out for Chelsea, helping them claim two league titles. He was hugely influential and incredibly easy on the eye with Jones confessing he was often in awe of how he performed on the pitch.

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He told : "My one, and I know this might go a little bit left with our fans because of the comparisons, but Hazard for me. I know we compare with Mo, I say it as a player, as someone who loves the game, when I wanted to be like a player, I feel like Hazard was the one. every time I watched him I was like 'wow, that was football'."

Salah and Hazard played in England for two years together and both had standout moments in games featuring Chelsea and Liverpool. The Belgian never produced the kind of numbers that the Egyptian does. His best year in front of goal saw him score 21 times - 23 fewer than Salah's best total.

Jones admits that's maybe why Hazard is overlooked for certain conversations, but for pure ability, would have him ahead of his Liverpool team-mate.

Controversially, he said: "As a footballer, is he better than Mo, in my opinion, yes. But who would you rather have on your team, you're going to say Mo, because he gets you goals and assists."

Hazard's career fell off a cliff once he left Chelsea in 2019, choosing to join . Throughout his time in Spain he struggled for fitness and form as was regarded as a major flop before eventually choosing to retire. Salah meanwhile remains at the peak of his powers and speculation continues to swirl over his Liverpool future with his contract winding down.

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