Former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany has compared Arsenal's Albert Sambi Lokonga to Yaya Toure.
The talented midfielder joined the Gunners in the summer, signing for a reported £16million from Belgian outfit Anderlecht, who Kompany currently coaches.
Now, the 35-year-old has hailed his compatriot, claiming that he told Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to watch a teenage Lokonga a few years ago.
"When I was still a player for City, I was coming to a point where I was thinking about my future. Management? Carry on? Sign a new deal?" Kompany told Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with Five YouTube channel.
"I was watching football from different countries, different places. And I saw Sambi play his first game - his first two games - then he got an injury to his knee.
"But the first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel and said, 'You've got to watch this guy, he's the new Yaya Toure.'
"Anyway, nothing comes of it. He's got a cruciate ligament and then I end up falling into the management job at Anderlecht, so I'm working with him now. And I had the same conversation about him with Mikel, I still believe the same thing now."
Lokonga has impressed for Arsenal in recent weeks, often partnering Thomas Partey in the centre of midfield, with Granit Xhaka currently sidelined following a nasty knee injury during September's 3-1 win.
The youngster's mentality is something that has caught the eye of Kompany, who has admitted that the 21-year-old's desire to always want the ball is something he greatly admires.
He continued: "What I like with Sambi - and it’s rare in football, what Yaya did have - is he wants the ball no matter what.
"If the teams not doing well, give the ball to Sambi. If the team's doing well, give the ball to Sambi. He will never hide away from his responsibility.
"He has things he has to improve... if he remembers the conversations we've had, he will know exactly what he still has to work on but at the same time... Yaya was a finisher and that's a very rare thing to have. I don't know about that [with Sambi]."
"The point is you need players who are not afraid to have the ball when the going gets tough. As a centre-back, your job stops at a certain point on the ball.
"And you need to be able to give it to people who see the next pass, see the next move, take responsibility, take people on and put that tempo in when there's no tempo in the game anymore. For me, that's what Sambi has that makes him special."
