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Chelsea star Eden Hazard has ruled himself out of the race for the Ballon d’Or, tipping Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric to win the award instead.
Hazard has been one of the top performing players this year, having led Chelsea to the FA Cup last season, before also playing a key role as Belgium finished third at the World Cup in Russia.
However, the 27 year old believes Modric is better placed to win this year’s Ballon d’Or for having a “wonderful” year at both club and international level.
A 30 man shortlist was announced by France Football on Monday, including regular suspects Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The list also has the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba in contention for the prestigious individual award.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of Belgium’s UEFA Nations League game against Switzerland on Friday, Hazard said:
"I don't think I'm going to win it. In my opinion, Modric deserves it.
"There are three to four players. I could say [Madrid and France defender Raphael] Varane because he won a lot too. I could deserve it too, lets not lie.
"But seriously, I think that Modric will win it. It is going to be a reward for his wonderful season in the Champions League and the final of the World Cup"
Having already won the European Best Player award and the FIFA Best Player award, Modric will make it a hat-trick of awards should he win the Ballon d’Or too.
He will however face stiff competition from Ronaldo, Messi, and Mohamed Salah who also had stellar campaigns last season.
Social media has been buzzing since Hazard tipped the Croatian captain to win the award, with many taking to Twitter to offer their own opinions.
Lets take a look at some of the best tweets regarding the Belgian’s comments.
