I played with Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Kevin De Bruyne but surprising Chelsea star who rarely played stunned me

Eden Hazard has name-dropped an unexpected ex-Chelsea player when asked to pick the most 'talented' footballer he's played with.

The 33-year-old announced his retirement from football last October, leaving behind an incredible career that saw him play with some of the best stars football has ever seen.

Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are just a few of the big name stars Hazard played with during his time with Chelsea, Real Madrid, Lille and Belgium.

But it turns out one surprise former Blues player takes the crown over all those iconic former teammates - Gael Kakuta.

When asked who he believes is the most talented player he's starred alongside, he said: "I think, because for Real Madrid I played for the best player in the world, for me, Modric, Benzema, they are top of the list, you know.

"When you say Kevin De Bruyne, he's top of the list. When you say Lampard, he's top of the list. Juan Mata for me, he's top of the list."

He continued: "But I'm going to give you one name, and John knows the player. The only one where I was saying 'wow' when I started playing for a young team in France. It was Gael Kakuta."

Explaining the reasoning behind picking the former Chelsea winger, Hazard said: "You asked me about talent. Talent, Kakuta by far, no.1. Talent, I mean talent, wow!"

"He was really good, really good," Mikel said, agreeing with his former teammate. "I think for some reason he didn't get the opportunity at Chelsea."

Hazard continued: "You know I played against him a lot because I used to play at Lille, he was playing in Lens. In the north of France that's a derby.

"Me being me, we used to win every game, 5-0, 6-0, me being best player ever time. Then we play against him - we're losing [the] game! He's the best player? What?! That's not normal."

Kakuta, now 32, joined Chelsea's academy from Lens in 2007. He won Academy Scholar of the Year award in his first season and was also voted Academy Player of the Year after finishing top scorer in the youth side with 12 goals in 24 appearances.

A double ankle fracture in a friendly against the Glenn Hoddle Academy stunted his progress into the first team, but following six months out, he returned and soon made his Premier League debut.

He also became the youngest Chelsea player to ever represent the club in the Champions League under Carlo Ancelotti and even gained a nomination for Golden Boy in 2010.

Despite signing a contract extension until 2015 that year, Kakuta spent the majority of the rest of his time at Chelsea on loan, firstly with Fulham and Bolton before playing elsewhere in Europe.

At 23 years old in 2015, he made a permanent move to Sevilla having played 16 times for the Blues and registering one assist.

Shedding light on why it didn't work out for Kakuta at Chelsea, Hazard said: "Now it's easy to say but I think he went a bit too early to Chelsea. I think he was 16. That step at 16 is a huge step."

Kakuta now plays for Ligue 2 side Amiens and has scored four goals and registered one assist in 16 appearances this term. He also played for Congo at the African Cup of Nations in their run to the semi-finals.