Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, believes his in-form winger, Eden Hazard, has the talent to be a future winner of the FIFA Ballon d’Or.
Mourinho believes Hazard, who stated his own desire to become the greatest player in the world, has space for evolution and could reach the level of Ronaldo and Messi.
"Now I say yes," said Mourinho. "Because his evolution is great.
"If he wants to be a great, great player and arrive where Cristiano and Messi arrives, he has the space to go - he's 23, and Cristiano is 28 or 29 (the Portuguese turns 29 next month), Messi 26 or 27 (26) ... still young players, but four or five years older than Eden.
"So he has the space to go, space for evolution. I think there's a great ambition for him."
But the Chelsea boss also acknowledged that Ronaldo and Messi’s prolific goal-scoring records could make it difficult for a pure winger like Hazard to win the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or.
"I think, because of the positions Cristiano and Messi play, they are also top goalscorers," explained the former Inter and Real coach.
"It's not just the quality of the players, but the number of goals they score that makes them even more special.
"Eden is a winger, a pure winger. Okay, we are giving him freedom to go to other areas, but he's an attacking winger.
"I don't think it's possible for Eden to be top scorer in the league. That normally affects people's judgement.
"But if he can be a match-winner, a player with high performances during a season ... without injuries (then he has a chance).
“Messi and Ronaldo start and finish strong, players with big stability in their performances."
Which other players could follow in the footsteps of Messi and Ronaldo and how long will the duo still dominate European football? Have your say in the comment section below.
