Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has acknowledged Alexis Sanchez as one of the best players in the Premier League - but believes he is not quite on par with Eden Hazard.
Speaking to BT Sport on Saturday night in the wake of Sanchez's sublime hat-trick against West Ham, Ferdinand appeared to rate Chelsea's star man more highly than the Chilean.
He said: "He's definitely one of [the best in the league] but I think Hazard takes some beating when they're all on song. But this guy [Sanchez], he's carrying this team. He's the guy who is the inspiration and in the defining moments, he's taking the opportunities."
"He puts teams on the back-foot. He enables them to get that little bit more time and space because he's running into the channels and running into the spaces.�
The 38-year-old's comments are sure to open up a can of worms amongst fans, with the 'best player in the league' topic always a hotly-contested debate on social media.
Both Hazard and Sanchez have enjoyed wonderful seasons so far, catapulting their clubs to 1st and 2nd respectively in the Premier League table.
The duo have reached talismanic status in the eyes of their own fans, with both sets often keen to voice the reasons why their hero deserves to carry the title of best player in the league.
After his teatime hat-trick against the Hammers, Sanchez's goal tally for the season now stands at 11 in 14 league games, with five assists, with Hazard slightly worse off statistically with eight goals and three assists.
For Ferdinand however, stats are clearly not everything as he opted to name Hazard the better player when both are at the top of their games.
There is certainly no denying that the pair are not only Premier League but world superstars, but Ferdinand's comments are sure rile up a few sensitive Arsenal fans.