• Mourinho says it has been ‘much easier’ to develop Hazard
• But Chelsea’s top scorer must ‘build his entourage politically’

José Mourinho believes Eden Hazard has the potential to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the pinnacle of the world game, even if he must “build his entourage politically” if he is to claim the Ballon d’Or one day, having been surprised at how rapidly the Belgian’s game has developed at Chelsea.

Hazard, the club’s leading goalscorer this season, will hope to maintain his recent startling form in Wednesday’s derby against West Ham as Mourinho’s side seek an eighth successive win in all competitions. The 23-year-old cost £32m when he was prised from Lille in the summer of 2012 and, after an encouraging first campaign in the Premier League, has bought into Mourinho’s workaholic philosophy to add greater responsibility at each end of the pitch this season.

Mourinho has taken much pride over his coaching career from an ability to inject discipline into his most talented players, and cited the positive impact he had on Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Özil and Joe Cole when considering the progress made by Hazard this term. Cole, who has been denied a return to Stamford Bridge this week by a groin injury, endured a “difficult five or six months, but after that the best three years of his career” under Mourinho upon his arrival in south-west London in 2004, though the Belgian has actually developed far quicker than his former Lille team-mate. “When you have players with talent and they don’t have other things, you can give them the other things,” said Mourinho. “Some players have the other things – the way they train, the responsibility, a collective spirit, the ability to be multi-functional – and don’t have the talent, and you cannot give them the talent. You can say Eden is like Joe in that aspect, but with Eden it was much easier than I thought. Much easier, and that is down to him.

“Does he have the capacity to reach the level of a Messi or Cristiano? Now I say yes, because his evolution is great. He has time to become a great, great player and arrive where they are – he’s 23, and Cristiano is 28, Messi 26 – so there is space for further evolution, and there’s a great ambition in him. They are also top goalscorers, of course, and that makes them even more special. Eden is a winger, a pure winger, so I don’t think it’s possible for Eden to be top scorer in the league. That normally affects people’s judgment.

“But if he can be a match-winner, a player with high performances during a season … What I feel now in him is responsibility in every aspect. Against Manchester United he made a fantastic tackle in our own box. Against Stoke, he tried to kill the game, have initiative, dribbling at people, trying to make things happen. The kid is going in a fantastic direction.”

That may not be enough to yield the Ballon d’Or, a Fifa trophy that has been monopolised by Ronaldo and Messi over the last six years and an award which, the Chelsea manager suggested, might owe as much to politicking as ability out on the pitch. “If he wants the Ballon d’Or, he must build the entourage politically for that,” said Mourinho. “Without the entourage and the politics, he doesn’t get the Ballon d’Or. That’s a different story.”

Chelsea hope to squeeze breathing space between themselves and Manchester City ahead of next week’s meeting of the two sides, with Manuel Pellegrini’s team facing an awkward midweek trip to White Hart Lane. Yet Mourinho preferred to insist his side remain outsiders for honours this term, a team apparently more intent on evolution than silverware. Indeed, he went as far as to express his hope that City overcome Spurs so as to strengthen Chelsea’s position in the top four.

“I’d prefer them to win because, if they do and we win too, we open up a gap to Tottenham,” added Mourinho, who confirmed the club’s young Belgian goalkeeper Thibault Courtois will not be staying at Atletico Madrid next season, as had previously been mooted. “If we open the gap to 10 points, and it’s 12 points to Manchester United, you have a safe spot in the Champions League places.

“The top four is an objective we don’t want to fail. As a club, and as a team, we need to play Champions League football. It’s very important for the evolution of the team, and for financial reasons and prestigious reasons for the club. So, for us, it would be better for City to win. A place in the top four is not a trophy. It’s a moment of the evolution of this team. Next season I will be speaking differently.”

• Chelsea
• Eden Hazard
• José Mourinho
• West Ham United

Dominic Fifield

theguardian.com