Curtis Jones risks a backlash by claiming Eden Hazard was a 'better footballer' than Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah.
In a refreshingly frank assessment, he admitted he would rather pay to watch the former Chelsea star than Salah.
But he made it clear he thought Salah was more of a match winner and later rowed back in a tweet as he posted a photo of himself smiling with Salah and wrote: “The one I would rather have in my team.”
Jones had initially made his light-hearted comments in a TNT Sports interview with Rio Ferdinand and gave a very personal justification.
“I know this might stick with our fans a little bit because the comparison is always there, but Hazard is the one,” he said.
“I know we compare him to Mo all the time and I've been working on it with Mo.
“I play it from someone I saw as a kid when I loved the game and I wanted to be like a player.
'I have a feeling it was Hazard. Every game I looked at him, just like, “Wow, that's football.”
“Now he's, I wouldn't say he's disrespected, but he wouldn't engage in certain conversations that he should be doing.
“It's a conversation I've had with Mo and all the guys. Is he better as a footballer than Mo? In my opinion, yes. But who would you rather have on your team? They're going to say Mo, because he gives you goals and assists.'
Ferdinand added: “I would pay to go to Hazard first, but if I am going to choose a team to win a match, I will choose Salah.”
Jones replied, “Yes, exactly, it's definitely that simple.”
If Jones had made this comment about ten years ago, there would have been little resistance to it.
Hazard and Salah were teammates at Chelsea for two years and while the former was the king of Stamford Bridge, the latter was largely a bit player.
But Salah's reputation was arguably surpassed that of the Belgian thanks to his heroics at Liverpool, while Hazard's struggles at Real Madrid in the closing stages of his career complicated his legacy.
Salah is now Liverpool's fourth all-time top scorer with 232 goals and has a realistic chance of making it onto the podium this season.
The Egyptian has won the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Community Shield at Anfield.
Many also believe that his form this campaign, which has seen him score 21 goals and register 17 assists, deserves to see him crowned a Ballon d'Or winner if he can keep it up.
Hazard's list of achievements is equally impressive, as he won two Premier Leagues, two Europa Leagues, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup with Chelsea, before winning every trophy Real Madrid had to offer – despite only making 76 appearances in four seasons played them. .
Both have won one Premier League Player of the Year award, but Salah beat Hazard 2-1 for PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.
Hazard retired in October 2023 at the age of 32 – the same age Salah is now as he tears up the Premier League and Europe.
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