Emiliano Martinez has likened Aston Villa team-mate Jack Grealish to Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.
Grealish has six goals and ten assists to his name this season in 21 Premier League appearances for Villa, while Messi has 13 goals and two assists in La Liga.
Martinez is probably the best-placed person to make such a comparison with the goalkeeper also a team-mate of Messi in the Argentina national team.
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“He [Grealish] is the most talented player I’ve ever seen,” Martinez told talkSPORT, ahead of Aston Villa’s trip to Brighton this Saturday.
“He never gives the ball away. When I see Grealish running, it’s always a shot on target or a corner for us. He will drive past two or three players.
“I just see Messi with a right foot when he has the ball. You can’t get the ball off him.
“He’s the most talented English player and I’m surprised he hasn’t played more games for England.
“Messi is Messi, he’s the best ever. But in terms of training, when Jack has the ball, people don’t want to tackle him, they respect him, he can finish, he can chop, he can do everything.
“When I train with Messi for the national team, it’s the same. Nobody wants to touch him, he chops people, he treats players like cones.
“I see that with Jack here.”
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