Kevin De Bruyne says only three players are 'more talented' than Eden Hazard

 Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne says only three players are ‘more talented’ than Chelsea legend Eden Hazard.

Chelsea spent £32m to sign Hazard from Lille in 2012 after he spent four impressive years at the French club, helping them win Ligue 1 before Paris Saint-Germain’s period of dominance began.

Hazard was the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in his first full season at Lille, becoming the first non-French player to take home the award.

The Belgian also became the youngest player to ever win the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award for his heroics during Lille’s title-winning campaign.

Much was expected of Hazard following his exploits in France and he did not disappoint, establishing himself as one of Chelsea’s best and most exciting players over the next decade.

Hazard scored over 100 goals for Chelsea and won six major trophies at Stamford Bridge, including two Premier League titles and two Europa Leagues.

But Chelsea fans will point out Hazard should not only be remembered through stats as one of the most dynamic and mesmerising players to play in the English top-flight.

Hazard completed a dream move to Real Madrid in 2019 but only made 76 appearances for the La Liga giants over four injury-plagued seasons beforebeing released and subsequently retiring from the sport.

For six-time Premier League winner De Bruyne, Hazard remains the most iconic Belgian to ever play in the Premier League and was ‘top-five in the world’ in terms of talent.

In fact, De Bruyne believes peak Hazard was only behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar in terms of talent.

‘For me it has to be Eden,’ De Bruyne told Sky Sports when asked who he views as the most iconic Belgian to play in the Premier League. ‘He is so, so good.

‘I think, talent-wise, he’s probably like top-five in the world behind Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar. Eden on his day was so, so good.

‘His quality in one-v-one, his dribbling, he never seemed to care, he was just playing football.

‘I played with him since we were both 16 and he’s a really nice guy too. Unfortunately he had the injuries when he came to Madrid and he retired.

‘I spoke to him the other day before the Chelsea game, his son was coming to the game. He’s enjoying his life and I’m happy he’s happy, he was such a talented player.’

As well as starring for a number of domestic clubs, Hazard earned 126 caps for Belgium, the fourth-most in history.