Burnley boss Vincent Kompany positive cooing with praise for Manchester City starlet Taylor Harwood-Bellis
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The centre back, an ever present for the Clarets in the Championship this season, was selected for Lee Carsley's latest England Under 21s squad.
The 2019 FA Youth Cup finalist, who came through the same Stockport Metro Junior League that produced Etihad team-mate Phil Foden, has quickly found his feet since switching to Turf Moor in the summer.
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Hide AdThe 20-year-old, who has previous experience of England's second tier with Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, was at the top of Kompany's wish-list, with the pair linking up at Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League last season.
"I've known Taylor [Harwood-Bellis] for a long time so what everyone can see on the ball or what everyone can see when he goes into his challenges, I think his biggest quality, that is perhaps more difficult to see on the eye, is his leadership and his incredible drive and high standards," said Kompany.
"These kinds of players you can almost be certain are going to improve. Usually when a talent goes wrong it's because there's something mentally not right. With him he's got that more than anyone else. Wherever he is now, in two or three years time he will be a lot better."
Harwood-Bellis is expected to line-up for the Young Lions in the international friendly against Italy U21s at the Stadio Adriatico in Pescara on Thursday evening.
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Hide AdEngland, who have secured their place at the 2023 U21 European Championships in Romania and Georgia next summer, will then take on Germany Under 21s at Bramall Lane, the home of Championship leaders Sheffield United, on Tuesday.
Kompany continued: "The difference between a young player and an experienced player is usually the amount of consistency you can get in your performances.
"At his age to start building a consistency of good games, and I think it's for the first time in his career, where his best performances are very good and his worst are 'okay', that's something that will give him a lot of confidence for the next few years. That's how you become a centre-half that teams can trust."