Hazard second only to Barca star Messi, says Chelsea team-mate Fabregas.

Cesc Fabregas has urged Chelsea colleague Eden Hazard to be more selfish and close the gap on the world's best player, Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

Fabregas certainly has him in that bracket, with a man who has played alongside some of the finest talent on the planet of the opinion that the 26-year-old forward can get even better.

“Ability wise, there is only one player above Eden, and we all know who that is: Messi. Eden is up there with the best,” Fabregas said after witnessing Wembley heroics.

“But I’ve told him many times, he needs to be selfish and have that killer instinct – then he will be whatever he wants to be.

Casemiro's rapid rise from Castilla to Real Madrid regular.

Real Madrid Castilla were only supposed to be a testing ground for Casemiro, but instead the Brazilian defensive midfielder used it as a stepping stone towards stardom.

Now a Real Madrid regular, he is one of Zinedine Zidane's most important players, as his role provides balance to the enitre team.

On loan from Sao Paulo, Casemiro arrived at Castilla in January 2013 and by April 20, he had already been handed a first-team debut by Jose Mourinho.

In the 2014/15 campaign he was loaned to Porto, but since coming back he has won two Champions Leagues and become an essential piece of the puzzle in the Real Madrid midfield.

Casemiro's rise has been meteoric, and Los Blancos' decision to pay 6 million euros for his buy-out clause to the Brazilian club, and then 7.5 for him to return from Porto, proved to be astute business to say the least.

Carlo Ancelotti was in charge back then, with the defensive midfielder eager to prove he wasn't just there to make up the numbers.

Although he had showed promise against Borussia Dortmund, the Italian coach decided Casemiro wasn't ready yet, and the loan spell did wonders to his play as he returned a more mature player.

Rafa Benitez's style fit the Brazilian like a glove, but as his project unravelled it looked as though it could take down Casemiro with him, as he symbolises the solid defensive approach and lack of flair that made the ex-Liverpool boss a bad fit.
Instead, the midfield general impressed his next coach Zinedine Zidane, so crucial that when fit he is preferred to players of Isco and James Rodriguez's quality.

Far from an unsung hero, he might not have the flair of other Galacticos, but few players are so important to this Real side, and few have grown so spectacularly in the span of just a few seasons.
Source: Marca.

Highest Paid Footballers 2017 & How Much They Are Paid.

Recent Update:

1. Carlos Tevez is now the world’s highest paid player with a salary of £615,000 per week.

2. Oscars is the second highest paid football player in the world with £400,000 salary a week. This happened after they recently moved to Shanghai Shenhua, a club in the Chinese League.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) £365,000 per week £19m per year.

4. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) £365,000 per week £19m per year.

5. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) £346,000 per week £18m per year.

6. Hulk (Shanghai SIPG) £317,000 per week £16.5m per year.

7. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) £290,000 per week £15m per year.

8. Neymar (Barcelona) £289,000 per week £15m per year.

9. Graziano Pelle (Shandong Luneng) £260,000 per week £13.5m per year.

10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) £260,000 per week £13.5m per year.

11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) £250,000 per week £13m per year.

12. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) £240,000 per week £12.5m per year.

13. Yaya Toure (Manchester City) £240,000 per week £12.5m per year.