Eden Hazard and Neymar are heirs to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo says Ander Herrera

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has tipped Eden Hazard, currently under scrutiny at Chelsea, and Barcelona star Neymar to become the successors of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the top of world football. The Spanish midfielder, meanwhile, has refused to rule out the Blues for the Premier League title battle despite their poor start to the season.

Herrera moved to the Premier League in the summer of 2014 after facing both Ronaldo and Neymar during his time in La Liga playing for Athletic Bilbao.

And the Spaniard believes that despite Hazard struggling this term, he is destined to follow in the footsteps of the Portuguese and Argentine legends alongside Neymar. The Barcelona star could have been his teammate at Old Trafford after he and his father revealed United tried to secure his services during the summer transfer window.

Asked during an interview with Onda Cero who impressed him the most since his arrival to Old Trafford, Herrera said: "Hazard, I think for me he is the best player in the Premier League. Right now he is not in his best moment because his team are not well either but he is the most dominating.

"Sometimes I speak about that with Juan [Mata] because he played alongside him [at Chelsea] and perhaps when Cristiano and Messi get bored I think the best in the world will be Neymar and Hazard."

Herrera admits his surprise about the poor start to the season for Jose Mourinho's side but believes it is too soon to rule out them for the Premier League title. "It is rare but I don't rule them at all because Chelsea have the quality to win 10 games in a row and in the Premier League that means they could be up there again, because here everyone go through difficult times," he said. "They have players to be up there and they will fight for it."