Lukaku hails Hazard as his best team-mate ahead of Pogba

Romelu Lukaku has hailed Eden Hazard as the best footballer he has ever played with, citing his fellow Belgium international ahead of Paul Pogba in a Q&A on Twitter .

The Inter striker has recaptured some of his best form since arriving at San Siro from Manchester United last summer, helping to keep the club in a Serie A title race before the season was suspended amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

During his time at Old Trafford, the former Everton forward played alongside Pogba, one of the most gifted midfielders in world football, with the pair spending two years together at the club.

During that period, however, United only mustered a second-place Premier League finish as the highlight, with then-incumbent manager Jose Mourinho succeeded by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer midway through the 2018-19 campaign as the Red Devils began planning for the future.

Lukaku's lacklustre final months in Manchester may have had some sway in his thinking, as he eschewed the World Cup winner in favour of his own international compatriot Hazard as the finest player he has called a team-mate when answering a question from a fan on social media.

The pair were at the heart of Belgium's third-place finish at Russia in 2018, narrowly losing to France in the semi-finals before rallying to beat England for the bronze medal.

They briefly played together at club level at Chelsea, though Lukaku's frequent loan spells away from Stamford Bridge stymied much regular game time together and the pair missed the chance to reunite when he turned down a return to London in favour of his move to United.

Elsewhere, the former Anderlecht man weighed in on the differences between playing in Serie A and the Premier League, revealing that the former demands more intellectual nous while the latter runs at a more frantic pace.

"Tactically here, you get tested every week," he stated. "[But] the speed in the Premier League is higher."

When or if the current season resumes, Lukaku will look to add to his haul of 17 league goals as he chases both Ciro Immobile and Cristiano Ronaldo in the top scorer stakes for the campaign in Italy.