Chelsea’s Pedro believes Belgian will be back to his magical best this season. reports
EDRO expects Eden Hazard to recover from his worst season for Chelsea and prove he deserves to be compared to Lionel Messi. Hazard, along with the rest of the squad, struggled last term as the club finished 10th, their lowest League position since 1996.
The Belgium international scored just six times and created seven assists in all competitions compared with 19 goals and 11 assists in the previous campaign, when he was Footballer of the Year. r.
Hazard has often been tippedd to become as good as Messi, who scored ored 41 times last season.
Pedro played alongside Messi for seven years at the Nou Camp beforeore moving to Stamford Bridge 11 monthshs ago and has seen enough from Hazard to be convinced of hi s potential.
He told Standard Sport: “When it comes to Messi, we are talking about a player I believe is still the best in the world. He really is on a different level to other players.
“But Hazard is a very, very good ood player, you can see his techniquee is excellent and he has shown everything hing at Chelsea.
“He is still young, so he is goingg to continue improving to one dayy be among the very best in the world.
“It’s always going to be difficultt to compete with a player of Lionel’s ability, but Eden has all the qualities too do exactly that.
“He has that ability and talent to standand out from the crowd, to make the differfference and be decisive. When you see himhim produce moments of magic, it is easysy to draw comparisons with Messi.”
Barcelona — Messi includeded — arrived at England’s St George’s Park base yesterday as they prepare for Saturday’s friendly with Celtic in Dublin.
Hazard, meanwhile, arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday with the rest of the Chelsea squad for the start of their preseason tour.
The 25-year-old, as well as his compatriot Thibaut Courtois, was given an extended break after Euro 2016 and is working under new coach Antonio Conte for the first time.
Hazard is still seen as Chelsea’s key playerplaye and Pedro is confident the Belgian can cope with the pressure.
PedroPed added: “Everyone should be patientpatie and forget what happened to him llast season. The whole team struggled, not just Eden. You just need to look in the past and see everything he’s achievedachie for Chelsea and look forward to him doing it again in the future.
“If youy are a big player you will always have a lot of pressure on you. It’s the same for Eden, just as it is for Messi, NeymarNeym and Cristiano Ronaldo. “ObObviously Eden has that pressure, butbu he responds to it well and he has proved that in the past. He has played well for Chelsea and his team-matest for many years and alwaysalw shown that he can take on thattha responsibility.” Pedro,Ped who won 20 trophies at Barcelona,celon does not feel Hazard needs any tips fromf him.
“I won’tw be giving any special advice,” he said.sa “There is nothing I can say to him. It was not just a difficult situation for hhim, it was hard for all the players and alla of us need to work.
“ThThe only advice I can give is to work hard.hard All of us have to come together to wowork as hard as we can and approach next season with the right mentality.”