Can Chelsea's Eden Hazard rank among the greatest in the world?

Eden Hazard’s performance since 2011

“His finishing has definitely got better this season, and he’s found a way to get into better goalscoring positions without playing as a real forward – his hot streak in his final few months at Lille was partly due to him playing as a sort of false nine.”

There’s no real question over his development whilst at Chelsea, with the confidence that comes from the sort of goals that he has been scoring encouraging the Belgian to become more of a show horse.

Last season his dribbles per game average dropped to its lowest since 2009/10 (1.8), but that figure has doubled in the current campaign (3.6), with Hazard’s total of 76 almost twenty more than his closest challenger in the league.

However, despite stealing the limelight on a number of occasions this season the winger has by no means become more of a selfish player. Although he produced a team high of 11 assists in the league last season to the 5 he has managed this, Hazard has created more chances per game under Mourinho than he did in the previous campaign (2.4 to 1.9).

Meanwhile his shots per game figure has remained the same (1.9), meaning that his conversion rate this time around is at 23% – a significant mark up from 14% last season.

Emerging as one of the very best player’s in one of the very best leagues – with only Luis Suarez picking up a superior rating than Hazard’s 8.04 since the start of December – Mourinho was bold enough to suggest that the 23-year old can become one of the best players in the world.

With Messi and Ronaldo to compete with it’s one hell of a tall order, but Hazard has a lot in his favour. He stands at a diminutive 5’7” – the same as Messi – and he has the low centre of gravity that allows him to beat opponents in tight areas, or draws fouls from them at the very least. Meanwhile he has real power in his legs, perhaps not to the degree of Ronaldo but it certainly makes for a useful combination within the role that he plays.

When asked of the validity of Mourinho’s prediction chief football writer at the Daily Mirror, Martin Lipton told WhoScored, “Asking Hazard to out-shine Messi and Ronaldo is a big demand. Expecting him to be compared to them, though, is a question of evolution. He is flourishing and growing almost by the week, making himself Chelsea’s ‘go-to’ player, leaving an impression on every game. This is the mark of a class act and Hazard is probably the first Chelsea name in every opposing manager’s team-talk.”

The Blues faithful will be hoping that he remains their ‘go-to’ guy and that his stay in London isn’t a fleeting one. His development at the Bridge is unquestionably evidence enough that if Hazard is to become one of the worlds greatest he has the capability and resources to do so with Chelsea.