Eden Hazard Claims He Doesn't Care About Winning Ballon d'Or as He Names Future Contenders

Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has insisted he is not concerned with winning the Ballon d'Or, and listed a number of players he thought capable of winning it in the coming years.

The Belgian has notched 16 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League this season, the biggest goal contribution of any player in the English top flight, and has three further scores across competitions.

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However, speaking to Joao Castele Branco of ESPN Brasil, as relayed by Sport Witness, he revealed he did not covet the award the way other players do. 

Speaking about future winners of the award, the Belgian declared: “In the future, I think Neymar is quite the same age as me, Mbappe is very young, he can be the future Ballon d’Or for many years. But the English generation is very good as well."

But, when asked if he considered himself a contender, Hazard was less enthused, proclaiming: “I don’t care about this. I just wanna give my everything on the pitch, if I win, I’ll be very happy. If not, it’s not a problem. I’ll give everything for the club, and we’ll see.”

Pushed on whether he thought he was good enough to receive such an honour, he admitted: “I don’t know. Maybe not. But like I said, I just try to reach the best level I can.”

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However, he wasn't completely incapable of praising himself, as, when talk turned to his recent two-goal showing against West Ham, he conceded: “You know, it was a great night for me, for us. I’m just happy to score these kind of goals. I think for the player it’s great, but also for the fans, to watch these kind of goals.

"That’s why we love football, for these moments. I try to do it more often, but sometimes, it’s not so easy. So I hope to score more goals like that in the future.”