Former Chelsea player Pat Nevin believes that midfielder Eden Hazard can emulate superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become one of the best players in the world if he gets enough protection from referees.
The midfielder, who recently signed a new contract that ties him to Chelsea until 2020, is the most fouled player in the Premier League this season as the Belgian has been fouled a total of 74 times.
Nevin said that if Hazard was going to last his five-and-a-half years he had got to get a bit more protection than he was getting just now, the BBC reported.
The former Scottish international said that Hazard could turn out to be one of the best players in the world if he gets that protection, adding that he would be right on the coat-tails of Messi and Ronaldo, the report added.
The Belgium international scored 13 times in his 36 appearances for Chelsea so far this season.