Not since 2008 has a Premier League player won the Ballon d'Or and it's unlikely that's going to change anytime soon.

It was Cristiano Ronaldo who was named the world's best player 10 years ago following a season where he scored 42 goals in all competitions for Manchester United.

Since then, the Portuguese and Lionel Messi have dominated the Ballon d'Or for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively by winning it every single year.

So is there any hope for the Premier League? Well, only two players realistically have a chance of winning the Ballon d'Or when Messi and Ronaldo start declining.

Kevin De Bruyne is one of them. The 26-year-old has been sensational for Manchester City since joining in 2015 and is only going to get better as he reaches his peak years.

And then there's Eden Hazard, who turned 27 last month and has once again been Chelsea's standout player this term.

Hazard has never given himself a chance of winning the Ballon d'Or, though, and said last year that there are too many players better than him.

"I have no chance [of winning]," he said in 2017. "I think a lot of players are better than me. I don't know if in the future I can have the chance to win the Ballon d'Or."

Hazard knows he heeds to be as good as Messi and Ronaldo in order to win the Ballon d'Or, especially with Neymar one of his main rivals for the prize.

And according to the Belgian, he knows exactly what's missing from his game that's stopping him from reaching those heights.

Hazard has honestly admitted he needs to perform in the bigger games - like against Messi's Barcelona on Tuesday - in order to be one of the best.

"First, it is good to be compared with the greatest ever," said Hazard, per The Sun. "I try to do my job and reach my level to their level because they are the best in the world.

"If you want to be one of the best you have to play well in the big games. Every game I try to play my best football.

"This year we are back in the Champions League, you want to shine when you play the best team in the world. If I want to reach that level I have to play at the best."

Fair play to Hazard. He's in no doubt he's not as good as Messi and Ronaldo but knows what it will take to change that fact.