"I wouldn't say the best" – Ex-Chelsea star offers interesting opinion on playing with Eden Hazard
Ex-Chelsea star and Nottingham Forest full-back Ola Aina has showered praise on Eden Hazard, asserting that the former Blues winger is the best player he has ever played with.
During a recent interaction with Nottingham Forest's media team, Aina was queried to name the best footballer he has shared the pitch with in his career. The 27-year-old responded:
"I wouldn't say the best, but, I'll probably put maybe Eden Hazard."
Hazard, who left LOSC Lille to join the Blues for £32 million in the summer of 2012, relished a stellar nine-year stint at Stamford Bridge. He helped his former team win six silverwares, including two league titles.
Prior to joining Real Madrid in 2019, Hazard started 297 of his 352 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea. The Belgian scored 110 goals and laid out 86 assists during his spell for the west London outfit.
Aina, who was at Chelsea between 2005 and 2019, played alongside the 33-year-old winger four times at his boyhood club. The pair shared the pitch for a combined 21 minutes during the 2016-17 campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino remarks on his future after Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Tottenham
Earlier on Thursday (May 2), Chelsea defeated city rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in a Premier League contest at Stamford Bridge. After Trevoh Chalobah scored in the 24th minute with a header, Nicolas Jackson secured all three points for his team in the 72nd minute.
After the end of the match, Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino was asked to shed light on his future. The Argentine replied to Sky Sports:
"I think enough is enough. All the managers need time to translate their ideas and their philosophy. More when the team is like this squad is. We need to have time. It's not my decision. It's difficult to see every single week that I'm under scrutiny and I'm under judgment. But it's not my decision to be here or not to be here."
Pochettino, who has won 23 of 47 games as the Blues' boss, added:
"If we want the history of Chelsea, I think it's a lot of work to do. We will see if we have time to be in this way. My feeling is that I'm so, so proud of all these guys, the squad we have. We want the best for them and until the last day, we're going to try to help them."
The Blues, who finished 12th last season, are currently in eighth place in the 2023-24 Premier League table with 51 points from 34 matches.