8 players who could have won the Ballon d'Or in the last 8 years

#3 Eden Hazard (2015)

Hazard became the EPL's best player in 2015

The player, along with Neymar, always said to be the heir to Ronaldo and Messi's dominance, Hazard is a joy watch on form: turning and twisting, there's no attacker more graceful in possession of the ball when running at defenders.

Hazard has been at Chelsea for 6 seasons now, but his 2015 year, especially the first half of it, saw him performing to a world-class level. He was the star attraction as Jose Mourinho led Chelsea to their first league title in 5 years. The Belgian would end the season with 19 goals in all competitions, his best return for the club to date.

His performances in 2015 saw him begin to be linked with the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as he became the EPL's undisputed best player. The sense loomed that most days Hazard was unplayable. His ability one-on-one with a defender was frightening as he consistently ghosted past his marker, finding spaces on the left hand side of the pitch where there didn't appear to be any.

Sometimes, regardless of trophies won or goals scored, it's great just to witness a player in complete control of his footballing abilities enjoying what he does and as he helped Chelsea to first position this is what Hazard represented, as watching him tease and torment defenders was to see some of the best dribbling technique of the 21st century.

His form dipped in the opening to the 2015-2016 season as Chelsea's form as a team faltered, but his consistent performances before this made him most people's best payer behind Ronaldo and Messi.

He was entertaining to watch but most importantly he backed this up with incisiveness and effectiveness. In Mourinho's solid but uninspiring Chelsea team, Hazard was the creative spark that was the main reason for the league title returning to Stamford Bridge after a long absence. Real Madrid still had Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema if Ronaldo was misfiring and Messi had the support of Luis Suarez and Neymar but without Hazard Chelsea were a different side, lacking in star quality and world-class skill.