Eden
Hazard is among of handful of players who can succeed Lionel Messi and
Cristiano Ronaldo at the summit of world football, according to Graeme
Souness.
The Belgium international strengthened his claim to be heir to Messi and
Ronaldo's throne with two goals in Chelsea's 3-1 victory over Newcastle on
Saturday.
In a scintillating display, Hazard registered a career-high nine attempts on
goal, six of which were on target - the most by a Premier League player this
season.
And
Sky Sports pundit Souness was left in no doubt the "unplayable"
Hazard could follow in the footsteps of modern football's marquee players.
"When you think of the players who can take the mantle from the two top
players at the moment - Messi and Ronaldo - Hazard comes into that category.
He is that good," Souness said.
"His best years are ahead of him. My only criticism of him is that sometimes
he's not bang at it, but when he is in the mood he was today he is
unplayable.
"The truly great players become unplayable, and when he is at it he
certainly is great.
"You can set all the bear traps and obstacles for him but, like all the
great players, he finds a solution to what's put in front of him.
"He's among a handful of players who you can say are unplayable on their
day."
Hazard capped Chelsea's victory - which moved them level with second-placed
Manchester United, eight points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester
City - with a nonchalant chipped penalty.
Antonio Conte hailed the Belgian's performance, highlighting his burgeoning
relationship with strike partner Alvaro Morata.
"Eden played a good game," Conte said. "Today we saw a good link between him
and Alvaro.
"In this type of game, when we decided to have a tactical solution, he had
more freedom to play as striker and then offensively he was very dangerous.
"He played very well, scored twice, and the goalkeeper made two fantastic
saves from him. He must continue in this way to improve himself."
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