Antonio Conte has likened Tottenham winger Bryan Gil to Manchester City's Bernardo Silva but suggested he is still not physically strong enough to start in the Premier League.
Gil caught the eye in a 30-minute cameo as Spurs came from behind to draw 1-1 with Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Wednesday.
He also impressed in a brief appearance in the 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the competition, winning a late penalty, but is still yet to be used by Conte in the Premier League.
With Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison still sidelined, Gil is pushing for more minutes against Bournemouth on Saturday and Conte says he is similar to City's Portuguese star.
"Bryan Gil is a really good prospect but physically is not so strong," Conte said. "I think at the moment we were pushing a lot and to make his substitution was important because he is very good one-v-one.
"He has good personality. For sure if I have to ask Gil to defend... I think in this moment Gil can be useful for this type of situation.
"It wasn't the first time, as it also happened against Frankfurt. It means I believe in him, otherwise I don't risk playing him in the Champions League. But I try to find the right moments when he can be useful for the situation we're facing at that moment.
"For Gil it was really important to go out last season and play more games in Spain because we're talking about a league that you don't have to be so strong to play in.
"There's more technical quality and for him it was really positive to go there and play games. But I'm sure about Gil’s future because we're talking about a player who sees football. When I ask him something in the training session, he understands quickly and also his desire is to become an important player.
“If I have to compare him with someone I can see him like Bernardo Silva at [Man City] in his structure. But, for me, at this moment Silva is physically stronger than him but we are talking about this type of player."
