Zinedine Zidane has spoken of his admiration for Chelsea's Eden Hazard in comments which are sure to spark speculation of a future switch to Real Madrid.

Hazard, who recently signed a new contract at Chelsea until 2021, has spoken of Zidane as his hero and the respect appears to be mutual.

The former France playmaker is a coach at Real and his appraisal of Hazard as one of the three best players in the world, with room for improvement, could be seen as the start of the Spanish giants' courtship of the Belgian.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho recently said every player has a price, but has no intention of selling a player who is favourite for Sunday's PFA Player of the Year award.

"There are players I keep an eye on and who I like a lot, like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, of course," Zidane told fifa.com.

"They're fantastic players, but I like Eden Hazard a lot too. I enjoy everything he does on the pitch.

"I like the way he carries himself, that decisive streak in him and the fact that he's improving every year.

"He can still get better too, and I think he's a big reason why Chelsea are on top of the table."

Hazard, who joined Chelsea in 2012 from Lille for £32million, scored his 18th goal of the season in last Saturday's defeat of Manchester United.

A win at Arsenal on Sunday means Chelsea could secure the Premier League title the following Wednesday at Leicester.