MY VERDICTJAMIE REDKNAPP

IF YOU were choosing a Premier League fantasy team right now, Eden Hazard would be first pick.

He was unlucky not to be named player of the World Cup. Had Belgium gone all the way, I am sure he would have won that award. Some of the things he was doing in Russia were out of this world.

I bracket him with Neymar. What has stopped Hazard from becoming the greatest is that he does not have the same killer instinct in front of goal as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

This was Hazard’s first hat-trick for Chelsea since a 3-0 win over Newcastle in February 2014. Ronaldo and Messi have scored them at will throughout their careers.

Maurizio Sarri has used him intelligently, first as an impact substitute before restoring him to the starting XI.

It means that in Hazard’s mind he has had a break after the World Cup and is raring to go. The challenge for him now is to have a season like Mo Salah last year and get 40-odd goals.