Curtis Jones names footballer he rates higher than Mohamed Salah - 'He's compared with Mo all the time'
ByTNT UK
Updated 20/01/2025 at 15:51 GMT
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has admitted that he loved watching former Chelsea star Eden Hazard when he was growing up, and claimed the Belgian was a "better footballer" than his Reds team-mate Mohamed Salah. Jones added, though, that he would rather have Salah in his team. Salah's future at Liverpool is unclear, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
'Any club would take him' - Crouch 'would love' Salah to get new Liverpool contract
Video credit: TNT Sports
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has declared ex-Chelsea star Eden Hazard a "better footballer" than Mohamed Salah.
Jones added, though, that he would rather have Salah in his team, as he opened up on the importance in today's game of goal involvements.
Hazard and Salah are two players who have often been compared, and Jones gave his view when speaking to TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand on Between The Lines: "I know this might go a little bit left with our fans because the comparison is always there, but Hazard is the one.
"I know he's compared with Mo all the time and I've been into it with Mo.
"From who I saw when I was a kid when I loved the game and I was studying the game and wanted to be a player, I feel like Hazard was the one. Every game I'd watch him and I would just (say), wow, that's football."
Hazard was considered one of the best players in English football when he was with Chelsea between 2012 and 2019.
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'Any club would take him' - Crouch 'would love' Salah to get new Liverpool contract
Video credit: TNT Sports
During that seven-year period, he helped the Blues to two Premier League titles.
For two years, Hazard and Salah clashed in matches between Chelsea and Liverpool.
Salah's stats have largely been superior: the most goals Hazard ever scored in a season for Chelsea was 21, which is 23 fewer than Salah's best total.
"I think it's goals and assists, that's the way the game's gone, that's the way it's shaped out," Jones added.
"That's why Hazard now is - I wouldn't say disrespected - but he doesn't come into talks that he should.
"The 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 the team? You're going to say Mo, because he gets you the goals and the assists."
Salah is hoping to inspire Liverpool to the club's 20th league title. The Reds are six points clear at the top with a game in hand after winning 2-0 at Brentford on Saturday.
The Egyptian's future is unclear, however, as he enters into the final six months of his contract.
Former Liverpool forward Peter Crouch last week urged Liverpool to pay Salah "groundbreaking money" to stay at Anfield.
Having hailed Salah's influence, Jones also expressed how much appreciation and admiration he had for former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard established himself as one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, particuarly when he inspired the Reds to UEFA Champions League glory in 2005.
Jones said: "I can't hear a wrong word about Gerrard. Overall, if I could be like a player, then it would be him.
"I feel like we play in a different way but if I could have what he had in terms of his pressing, his tackling and then on the flip side of that, how he could drag the team with him and become the main one in the team.
"Plus he's a scouser and he made the team his and things like that and that's the other side of the game that I want."
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