I played with Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Kevin De Bruyne but surprising Chelsea star who rarely played stunned me

Eden Hazard has name-dropped an unexpected ex-Chelsea player when asked to pick the most 'talented' footballer he's played with.

The 33-year-old announced his retirement from football last October, leaving behind an incredible career that saw him play with some of the best stars football has ever seen.

Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are just a few of the big name stars Hazard played with during his time with Chelsea, Real Madrid, Lille and Belgium.

But it turns out one surprise former Blues player takes the crown over all those iconic former teammates — Gael Kakuta.

When asked who he believes is the most talented player he's starred alongside, he said: «I think, because for Real Madrid I played for the best player in the world, for me, Modric, Benzema, they are top of the list, you know.

»When you say Kevin De Bruyne, he's top of the list. When you say Lampard, he's top of the list. Juan Mata for me, he's top of the list."

He continued: «But I'm going to give you one name, and John knows the player. The only one where I was saying 'wow' when I started playing for a young team in France. It was Gael Kakuta.»

Explaining the reasoning behind picking the former Chelsea winger, Hazard said: «You asked me about talent. Talent, Kakuta by far, no.1. Talent, I mean talent, wow!»

«He was really good, really good,» Mikel said, agreeing with his former teammate. «I think for some reason he didn't get the opportunity at Chelsea.»

Hazard continued: «You know I played against him a lot because I used to play at Lille, he was playing in Lens. In the north of France that's a derby.

»Me being me, we used to win every game, 5-0, 6-0, me being best player ever time. Then we play against him — we're losing [the] game! He's the best