Former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr was glowing in his praise of Spain's Gavi after the Barcelona man put on a show against Portugal.
Neighbours Spain and Portugal played against each other in the Nations League yesterday evening, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.
Before Ricardo Horta's 82nd minute equaliser, Spain ahd been in control and took the lead after 25 minutes through Alvaro Morata.
But perhaps even more impressive than the finish itself was Gavi's involvement in the goal.
After Portugal lost possession deep in Spain's half, Gavi made the most of a slight chance of a counter attack as he raced onto a loose ball.
Taking it upfield at pace, he never looked like losing it before sending a slide-rule through ball into the path of Pablo Sarabia, who then squared it to Morata to finish.
The Barcelona midfielder was at the heart of everything positive Spain created and didn't shirk defensive responsibilities either, using what Kerr described as his 'scrapper's quality' to break up a lot of play and win back possession.
Following the game, Kerr was hugely impressed as he gave his analysis to Virgin Media Sport.
He said: "He's the main man. This is the emergence of a player who I think we'll be talking about for years, like Messi.
"Messi and Ronaldo have been doing it in the box, but with Iniesta and Xavi we admired them over the years for their brilliance on the ball, their ability to retain possession under the highest of pressure against technically brilliant players.
"He has great acceleration, when he needs to get the ball he can make up ground very quickly.
He can get away from the defender, he knows where the support players are. He has a great scrapper's quality and the ability to knock players off the ball.
And Kerr said the emergence of Gavi as a top player at the tender age of 17 reminded him of seeing Andres Iniesta play for the first time.
"I love watching him already. I saw Iniesta when he was 15 and thought 'what a player he is' - seeing this fella at 17 I'm saying 'what a player he can be'. But he already is, he's in their best starting 11.
"I see his performances for the national team and the Barcelona team and I think he'll be the main playmaker.
"He may become more of a number 10, playing behind the front players and not having to defend so deep.
"It's the players who can score goals and make the penetrating passes who make the difference in the game. Players with pace don't get anywhere because good defending guides them into areas where they don't affect the game.
"But players who can see a pass and make the pass with the right timing and weight are the ones who make the difference, along with the goalscorers obviously."
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