Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, has compared Eden Hazard’s importance to that of Lionel Messi at Barcelona or Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus.

Hazard passed a century of goals for the Blues in a 2-1 win over Watford.

The Belgian scored Chelsea goal No. 100 when he raced onto Mateo Kovacic’s pass and rounded Ben Foster in the first half, then he won and converted a penalty in the second half after Roberto Pereryra’s volley had brought Watford level.

He has now scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in 18 Premier League appearances for Chelsea

“Of course he is very important for us, but [Lionel] Messi is very important for Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo is very important for Juventus.

“He is a very great player.

“He is able to play in every position. He is playing like a false No. 9. He is very able to play in that position, he scored two goals and I think he made two or three very good assists.

“He is very able to come to play with teammates, he is able to make space for teammates, he is very able in that position, but I think that he can play very well in every position,” Sarri said of Hazard.