Curtis Jones has risked angering Liverpool fans by suggesting that former Chelsea star Eden Hazard is a better footballer than current teammate Mohamed Salah.

Salah is having one of the all-time great seasons, putting up incredible numbers as Liverpool lead the way in both the Premier League and Champions League.

But Jones admitted he grew up watching Hazard and got more joy watching the Belgian, even if he also conceded that Salah is the player he would still rather have in his own team.

“I know we compare him with Mo all the time and I’ve been into it with Mo. I play it from, who I saw as a kid when I loved the game and I wanted to be like a player. I feel like it was Hazard. Every game, I’d watch him…’wow, that’s football.’

“I wouldn’t say he’s disrespected, but he wouldn’t come into certain talks that he should,” the home-grown Liverpool player then said of Hazard, referring to his career disappointingly petering out prematurely after a disastrous record transfer to Real Madrid.

“It’s a talk I’ve had with Mo and all the lads. As a footballer, is he better than Mo? In my opinion, yes. But who would you rather have in your team? They’re going to say Mo because he gets you your goals and assists.”

When Ferdinand clarified that he’d rather watch Hazard but put Salah in a team to win games, Jones agreed: “Yeah, exactly, for sure, it’s as simple as that.”

Even with that clarification, Jones was criticised by Liverpool fans on social media for speaking so highly of someone else in a direct comparison with his own colleague. The 23-year-old went on to post on X himself, underlining the statement that he’d still prefer to play with Salah.

Alongside a picture of Salah, he wrote; “The one I’d rather have in my team.”

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