Eden Hazard has insisted one of his former Chelsea team-mates was the most talented footballer he ever played with.
During his seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, the Belgian shared the pitch with some of the club’s most iconic stars, including Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry.
Hazard’s ill-fated move to Real Madrid in 2019 would see him rub shoulders with even more of the sport’s biggest talents.
However, when asked on the Obi One Podcast, hosted by former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel, which of his former team-mates had the most talent, the 33-year-old had a surprising answer.
“In Real Madrid I play with the best player in the world. For me (Luka) Modric, (Karim) Benzema, they are at the top of the list,” Hazard declared during the podcast.
“I’ll give you a name and John knows the player. The only one I was saying “wow”, but when I stopped playing with the new team you know in France was Gael Kakuta”.
“You asked me about talent. Kakuta so far number one. Talent. I mean, talent. Wow,” he continued.
Kakuta’s arrival in west London would prove to be the cause of significant controversy, with FIFA later handing the winger a four-month ban and announcing a transfer ban on Chelsea after it was ruled they had pushed him to terminate his contract. with Lens.
However, an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport later overturned the decision which ruled that the young Frenchman did not have a valid contract with Lens.
Despite his legal issues being resolved, Kakuta struggled to break into the first team at Chelsea, constantly being loaned out and making just 16 appearances before leaving the club permanently in 2016.
While he was unable to display his immense potential in the Premier League, Hazard added that Kakuta’s talent was evident even before his senior career with the Blues.
“You know, I play against him a lot because I played at Lille and he played at Lens,” Hazard continued. “It’s a derby, it’s the north of France. We won every game five, six nil”.
“Me: the best player in every game. And then every time we play against him, we’re losing the game. He is the best player. He is the best player, game after game. This is not normal”.
“I think it’s easy to say now, but I think he went too early at Chelsea. He was 16 when he left France for Chelsea. And that step at the age of 16 is a big step”, Hazard emphasized further.
Kakuta later returned to Lens, enjoying some of the best form of his career at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis and was the club’s top scorer in Ligue 1 in the 2020–21 season with 11 goals.
In 2022, Kakuta joined Amiens and has played 16 times for Omar Daf’s side in the French second division this season.
Now 32, Kakuta represented DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, making four appearances as they were knocked out by winners Ivory Coast in the semi-finals. /Football Match Up/
