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Curtis Jones has risked a backlash by claiming that Eden Hazard was a ‘better footballer’ than Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah.
In a refreshingly candid assessment, he admitted that he would rather pay to watch the former Chelsea star than Salah.
But he clarified that he thought Salah was more of a match-winner and rowed back later in a tweet as he posted a picture smiling with Salah and wrote: ‘The one I’d rather have in my team.’
Jones had initially made his light-hearted comments in a TNT Sports interview with Rio Ferdinand and gave a deeply personal rationale.
‘I know this might go a little bit left with our fans because the comparison is always there, but Hazard is the one,’ he said.
‘I know we compare him with Mo all the time and I’ve been into it with Mo.
‘I play it from, who I saw as a kid when I loved the game and I wanted to be like a player.
‘I feel like it was Hazard. Every game, I’d watch him, just like, “wow, that’s football.”
‘Now he’s, I wouldn’t say he’s disrespected, but he wouldn’t come into certain talks that he should.
‘It’s a talk I’ve had with Mo and all the lads. As a footballer, is he better than Mo? In my opinion, yes. But who would you rather have in your team? They’re going to say Mo because he gets you your goals and assists.’
Ferdinand added: ‘I’d pay to go and see Hazard first, but if I’m going to pick a team to win a game, I’m picking Salah.’
Jones replied: ‘Yeah, exactly, for sure, it’ds as simple as that.’
If Jones had made this comment around a decade ago then there would have been little push-back against it.
Hazard and Salah were team-mates at Chelsea for two years and while the former was the king of Stamford Bridge, the latter was largely a bit-part player.
But Salah’s reputation was arguably surpassed the Belgian’s thanks to his heroics at Liverpool, while Hazard’s struggles at Real Madrid in the final act of his career complicated his legacy.
Salah is now Liverpool’s fourth-top goalscorer of all time with 232 strikes and has a realistic chance of entering the podium places this season.
The Egyptian has won the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the FA Community Shield while at Anfield.
Many also believe that his form this campaign, which has seen him score 21 goals and register 17 assists, deserve to see him crowned the Ballon d’Or winner if he can keep it up.
Hazard’s list of honours is equally impressive, as he won two Premier Leagues, two Europa Leagues, the FA Cup, and Carabao Cup with Chelsea, before winning eveyr trophy on offer at Real Madrid – though he only played 76 times for them over four seasons.
Both have won one Premier League Player of the Year Award, but Salah pips Hazard 2-1 for PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year awards.
More to follow.
