Jeremy Doku has received a fine compliment from former Man City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.
City supporters who witnessed the first decade of this century need no reminding of what a pacy, inventive winger gives a team. Few embodied it better than Shaun Wright-Phillips, the academy graduate whose darting, direct running was lighting up terraces even before the Etihad Stadium era.
Now, one of the club's most beloved ex-players has had his say on one member of the current crop whom he has crowned the Premier League's best winger. In a new interview, Wright-Phillips singled out one Manchester City man as the most impressive and influential wide operator in the country.
Wright-Phillips gave a sky blue answer when asked to name the division's premier wide man. Speaking to Oddschecker , the former England international acknowledged Jeremy Doku's fitness troubles but insisted the Belgian's ceiling is higher than anyone else's in the league.
"I would say Doku [is the best winger in the Premier League]. He's had a few injuries, and he hasn't played as regularly as he was," Wright-Phillips said.
"But I think when he came on against Liverpool , you saw Doku at the back end of the season, because for me, he destroyed them and he forced issues."
The display Wright-Phillips mentioned, of course, came at Anfield, where Doku's introduction helped Manchester City pull Liverpool apart on the way to a resounding 3-0 win.
Despite Doku suffering a fairly lengthy injury layoff immediately before the match, his performance was the mark of a player who, at full tilt, can unpick any defence in the country.
The praise carries extra weight coming from a man who made his name doing the same job in the same shirt. Wright-Phillips, who spent years tormenting full-backs for City knows better than most what separates a good winger from a great one.
The one caveat, as Wright-Phillips acknowledged, is availability. Now 24, Doku has repeatedly seen muscular problems interrupt his rhythm and cost him a settled place in the side.
In a squad rich in attacking options, nailing down a regular starting role without suffering injury setbacks is the one thing that still eludes the Belgian.
Under Enzo Maresca, whose Manchester City team prize positional discipline and control, the biggest challenge is turning those game-breaking moments into an almost-weekly return.
If he can stay fit through a congested winter, Doku has the tools to be one of the players of City's season. With the side well in the Premier League title race, a wide man who can pick the lock on the deepest defences is exactly the weapon Maresca will want to get firing.
