Former Tottenham striker Robbie Keane believes that Wolves winger Daniel Podence is similar to ex-Chelsea star Eden Hazard.
The Portugal international opened his Premier League goalscoring account for the season on Sunday, striking from range against Leicester City to give Wolves the win.
It comes after a difficult season for the 26-year-old, who has struggled with injury, a Covid infection and limited minutes until very recently, where he has begun to show his very best form again.
His return to the scoresheet and his skilful, dribbling style has led to inevitable comparisons to Hazard, who amazed the Premier League with his ability.
The Belgian scored 110 goals and assisted 92 times in 352 competitive appearances for the Blues, going on to win two Premier Leagues, an FA Cup, a League Cup and two Europa Leagues in his time at the club.
The winger’s form brought about transfer interest, making the move to Real Madrid in 2019 for more than £100million.
Unfortunately for Los Blancos and the 31-year-old, the move hasn’t worked out as intended. He has struggled with injuries on a consistent basis and is currently unable to recapture the form that earned the move to the Bernabeu.
Hazard was a prominent and dangerous force in his prime, able to beat several players with his slick dribbling and movement. And now, Robbie Keane believes that Wolves’ Podence is of a similar ilk.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the Wolves game, he said: “I’m a massive fan of his. He can use his right and left foot. I honestly think there’s another gear in this lad. I think that there’s a lot more to come from him.
“He has a little bit of Hazard about him the way he plays. You'd hate to be a defender one-versus-one against him. Yes, he plays like Hazard but his numbers need to get better. He needs to get more goals, more assists but in terms of quality on the ball he’s brilliant.
“Really good to watch. I think there’s another gear in him.”
Wolves boss Bruno Lage was not as quick to heap praise on the winger, adding the importance of the side on the whole: “We are talking about Daniel, but I can talk about the wingers and the strikers because they are so important to the way we play without the ball and the way we defend and press.
“He created good chances, he scored a fantastic goal and he gave us three points.
“And he knows. I heard what he said before the game, that we have strong competition with the wingers, and that’s it.
“It’s very hard to play in this team. Daniel needs to work hard when we don’t have the ball. After that, they need to play, they need to score goals and create chances.”
