Eden Hazard shockingly names forgotten Chelsea flop as the most talented player he ever lined up alongside

Appearing as a guest on John Obi Mikel's The Obi One podcast, former Blues and Real Madrid attacker Hazard was asked to name the best player he had ever lined up alongside. Although he namechecked the likes of Luka Modric and compatriot Kevin De Bruyne, his answer in terms of pure talent was surprisingly former Chelsea youngster Gael Kakuta.

Hazard said: "In Real Madrid I play with the best player[s] in the world. For me [Luka] Modric, [Karim] Benzema, they are top top of the list. When you say Kevin De Bruyne, he's top on the list, when you say [Frank] Lampard he's top of the list, Juan Mata for me was top of the list."

However, he countered that by saying: "I'm gonna give you one name and John knows the player. The only one I was saying "wow" was Gael Kakuta. You asked me talent. Kakuta by far number one. Talent. I mean, talent. Wow."

A 15-year-old Kakuta was signed by Chelsea from French side Lens as a touted wonderkid in 2007 but failed to ever make the grade at Stamford Bridge, becoming part of the club's loan army before finally making a permanent exit in 2016 with just 16 appearances to his name. Although he resurrected his career back in France, he is now plying his trade in Ligue 2 with Amiens.

Hazard added: "I think now is easy to say but I think it went a bit too early [to] Chelsea. He was 16 when he when he when he left France for Chelsea, you know? And that step at 16 is a huge step."

Hazard prematurely hung up his boots last year, aged just 32, after an ill-fated, injury-plagued spell at Real Madrid that followed an £88 million ($111m) move from Chelsea. Asked on his plans for the future, the former attacker told Mikel's podcast that he has no intention of returning to football apart from potentially coaching kids.