Gary Neville has revealed he recommended Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo to Manchester United back in 2016.
Cancelo arrived at City from Juventus in 2019 and after a slow start to life in England, he's become one of the world's best defenders.
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The Portugal international was named Man of the Match in Saturday's 2-0 derby win and Neville is no stranger to his talents, having managed Cancelo at Valencia.
"I love him as a lad," Neville explained on his Sky Sports podcast.
"I absolutely loved him when he was out there. There was a vulnerability about him when he was out there because he was so young.
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"He's so hard on himself, in training, I don't know if he is still the same now. He used to be his critic. If he made a mistake, he'd throw his arms on the ground and start cursing himself and I used to say to him, 'give yourself a break'.
"It's hard enough in football as it is without being too tough on yourself, you will give the ball away, you will make mistakes, you will give goals away.
"I had him as a very young player at Valencia but you could just see exceptional talent.
"I made calls back to England, you could imagine to which club I'm talking about, [saying], 'if you'd ever take a young player, he's one you'd take'."
Cancelo got both assists at Old Trafford while also recording three assists in midweek against Club Brugge.
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Despite playing in defence, the 27-year-old has had the most shots in City's team this season.
Neville goes on to name Everton midfielder Andre Gomes as another 'exceptional talent' during his time in Spain.
"Him and Andre Gomes, I felt were exceptional talents that could come and grace the Premier League. Andre has had bad injuries which stopped him.
"But I think the education Joao Cancelo had in Italy would have been a good one for him. I think Italy toughens you up from a defensive perspective being at Juventus.
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"When City paid £60 million [as part of a swap deal with Danilo] for him the only doubt I had was the fact did City need to spend £60m on a full-back again because they already had players in those positions.
"Not any doubt whatsoever about what this player was.
"He's an athletic machine. He's a brilliant runner, he's a beautiful runner with the ball, he's a tough kid as well.
"He's strong, he's brave in his defending, he affects the game in defence and attack.
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"He's delivering on what I thought he would in terms of you see players sometimes not realising their potential, he is realising his potential. I couldn't be happier for him as a person."
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports & PA ImagesTopics: Manchester City, Football, Manchester United, Joao Cancelo