Eden Hazard or Kevin De Bruyne? Romelu Lukaku or Vincent Kompany? Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United have had Belgium’s finest, but who is the Premier League’s best?

Remember the not-so-distant days when Belgium literally had a Premier League all-star XI?

At one point, it seemed like being Belgian was a genuine requirement to play at centre-back for Tottenham, while two of the most gifted top-flight players in recent years both come from the land of chocolate and waffles.

Martinez has a host of Premier League stars at his disposal

Nowadays, Belgium vs England represents more of a homecoming for former Premier League icons: the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Jan Vertonghen – and perhaps the biggest legend of all – Nacer Chadli.

Don’t forget Thibaut Courtois, Thomas Vermaelen, Simon Mignolet… even Thorgan Hazard used to be on Chelsea’s books!

But we’ve still got our fair share of Belgian superstars in the Premier League.

In fact, the list is endless. Leandro Trossard, Youri Tielemans, Toby Alderweireld, Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi – oh, and that Kevin De Bruyne fellow.

Ahead of the Nations League clash this Sunday – live on talkSPORT – it got us thinking: who is the greatest Belgian ever to grace the Premier League?

Jim White and Simon Jordan say fixtures schedule needs to be changed or clubs will start purposely getting knocked out of 'lesser' competitions

7. Jan Vertonghen

Chadli hasn’t made the list, you’ll be sad to hear, but there is still room for three Tottenham heroes.

Vertonghen is fondly remembered by Spurs fans for an eight-year spell at the club, which ended last summer when his contract expired.

Now at Benfica, the 33-year-old defender still starts for Belgium, and Premier League fans can get all nostalgic watching him on Sunday.

Vertonghen made over 250 appearances for Spurs since his move from Ajax in 2012

6. Toby Alderweireld

Vertonghen’s partner in crime edges him on the list because, well, he’s just a little bit better.

Age is the primary reason why Alderweireld, 31, got a new contract last year and Vertonghen didn’t.

But Alderweireld always had the edge on Vertonghen due to his extraordinary passing range, which is why he still gets in Jose Mourinho’s team every week.

Alderweireld is still at the top of his game

5. Mousa Dembele

Forget Tottenham, Fulham fans will tell you Dembele is the greatest player ever to grace Craven Cottage.

While his former Spurs teammates have more longevity, Dembele was an outrageously gifted player, who Mauricio Pochettino puts in the ‘genius’ category of Diego Maradona in terms of natural ability.

At his peak, dispossessing the Belgian was simply impossible, and some of those mazy runs with the ball glued to his feet will live long in the memory.

Dembele was a popular figure among Tottenham fans during his six-and-a-half-year spell in north London

4. Romelu Lukaku

We couldn’t leave out a member of the Premier League’s 100 club, could we?

Say what you like about Lukaku and his first touch, but his record speaks for itself and in 2018 he scored for Man United against Swansea to bring up his ton.

At 24 years and 322 days old, Lukaku became the youngest player from outside England to achieve the feat, and the fifth-youngest overall.

Although the striker didn’t live up to expectation at Old Trafford, he wasn’t exactly a flop, and there would be a case for including him based on his spells at West Brom and Everton alone.

Lukaku scored 42 goals in a two-year spell at Man United and left with 113 Premier League goals to his name

3. Vincent Kompany

Third. We know. One of the greatest defenders of the Premier League era, but not even the second-best Belgian.

Kompany’s leadership and defensive qualities are famous, it’s why Watford’s Troy Deeney told us the Man City legend is the best defender he’s ever faced.

Taking part in a Q&A on talkSPORT’s Instagram account, Deeney said: “The best defender I’ve played against in my career would be Vincent Kompany.

“I think he’s just a beast of a human; he’s fast, strong and a great leader.”

But despite lifting the top-flight trophy four times, the players at the top of this list have more talent, which is saying something.

Kompany is seen as one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history

2. Kevin De Bruyne

It depends what you’re into, but Kevin De Bruyne’s outstanding qualities just get us more excited than Kompany’s.

De Bruyne is probably the best player currently playing in the top-flight, having won the PFA Player of the Year award last season.

And that’s a feat which his long-standing former teammate Kompany never achieved.

De Bruyne might not have made it at Chelsea but he’s been outstanding at Man City

1. Eden Hazard

It was a tough call, but we had to go for the Chelsea legend.

Most of the football world might’ve forgotten how good he is due to his struggles in Madrid, but not us.

While you could compare Kompany to John Terry, or De Bruyne to Paul Scholes, there has only been one Hazard.

Nobody went past people the way he did, with such effortless regularity, and some of the things he did were just astonishing.

For our money, he’s the most talented Belgian ever to play in the Premier League, and perhaps one of the best of any nationality.

Hazard was arguably the Premier League’s best player for much of his Chelsea career

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Saturday, November 14, 2020