Jose Mourinho has compared Tottenham's Ryan Sessegnon to former England left-back Ashley Cole.
The new Spurs coach knows Cole well from their time together at Chelsea , where the defender established a reputation as one of the greatest full-backs of his generation.
Sessegnon has not long been at Tottenham himself, having joined on deadline day from Fulham in August, but has been tipped for a bright future.
And Mourinho is excited at the prospect of working with the young talent, and feels he can develop into a similar player as Cole.
“I think Ryan is absolutely fantastic, I have known him since a kid in Fulham," Mourinho said.
"When he comes to the first team in the Premier League it is different to the Championship.
“I think in this moment he is a winger on the left, can also play on the right, can learn progressively and even develop physically, which he is doing.
"Even from the last time I saw him and the first time I met him when I came here he is already different physically.
“I think Ryan can play as a left-back. Probably the left-back in the last decade was Ashley Cole, in spite of him being from two enemy clubs, but he was fantastic.
“But Ryan has lots of similarities with Ashley, and he can learn how to defend.”
Another youngster who has impressed Mourinho is ball boy Callum Hynes , whose recent quick thinking helped Tottenham score against Olympiakos.
The 15-year-old fed a new ball back in immediately after another had gone out of play, allowing Serge Aurier to launch a quick throw to Lucas Moura, who crossed for Harry Kane to score.
Mourinho gave him a high five for his assist, and has since invited him for a pre-match lunch ahead of Tottenham's clash with Bournemouth .
"He is coming for lunch, for a pre-match meal with the boys [on Saturday]," Mourinho said.
“Happy days for the kid and hopefully we gave him amazing memories for the rest of his life, so beautiful for him."
