It was simply inevitable that Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah and Chelsea counterpart Eden Hazard would be compared during their stints in the Premier League.
While they never went directly head-to-head for the title, they were the two pre-eminent wingers in the division between Salah’s arrival in 2017 and Hazard’s departure for Real Madrid in 2019.
On Tuesday, Hazard officially announced his retirement at the age of just 32, having been released by Real at the end of his contract last summer.
Inevitably, the social media debate over which of the two players is a greater Premier League legend has resurfaced, but in truth, it should already have been settled.
Back in 2019, Hazard mentioned Salah in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and humbly admitted that he was trying to reach the ‘level’ of the Egyptian.
I like [Real midfielder Luka] Modric,” he said, via The Evening Standard. “He’s more of a midfielder than me but, of course, I like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Mo Salah is one of my good friends and he’s doing something incredible. I try to look at this player and this player and try to reach that level.”
