A new England star is said to have been born, with Three Lions legends Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand leading the rave reviews of Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey.
Ramsey scored twice as Villa played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Leeds United on Wednesday night, earning high praise from his manager Gerrard in the process.
The 20-year-old Villa academy graduate has been a key player since Gerrard took over from Dean Smith, starting ten of his 11 Premier League games in charge of the Midlands club.
His performances have helped Villa to rise away from any danger of relegation from the top flight and led to many tipping him to earn a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad in the near future.
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Among those backing him for success on the international stage is his manager, who earned 114 caps for the Three Lions.
Gerrard’s praise comes after Ramsey’s starring role against Leeds, where he twice drove into the box and drilled the ball past Whites 'keeper Illan Meslier.
Following those strikes, former Chelsea, Liverpool and England midfielder Joe Cole told BT Sport that “a star is born” in the form of Ramsey.
While Villa were unable to hold onto the 3-1 lead that Ramsey had given them with those goals, Gerrard was delighted with the 20-year-old’s display.
“Listen, he’s not following in anyone’s footsteps. Jacob Ramsey is Jacob Ramsey and he’s going to be a terrific player,” Gerrard said.
“It won’t be too long before the whole country are watching him, I’m sure because he’s in a top place.
“I know the level of England players, I’ve played with some of them, watched many of them for many years and Jacob Ramsey is right up there, let me tell you.”
Ramsey played 89 minutes in the Premier League classic, holding a pass success rate of 83 per cent, making four recoveries and two interceptions, on top of his goals.
And former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who was capped 81 times by England, joined former international team-mate Gerrard in his praise of the youngster.
“He’s not wrong, he’s not far off. The glimpses he’s showing us at the moment, for a kid so young, with the inexperience he’s got, the lack of exposure at this level, is beautiful to see,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“We love watching young players, you hear us here in the studio salivating over them and they’re the players we want to come to the stadium and watch.
“He’s just another one who we’re sitting here going, ‘what’s that going to look like in two, three, four years? Where’s the going to be?’.
“Stevie will be hoping it’s here, but there’ll be big, big, big clubs, far bigger than Aston Villa, with all due respect, circling and wanting that type of talent in their team, I’m sure.”
While he burst onto the scene with his performance on Wednesday, Ramsey insisted he was disappointed that Villa could not hold onto all three points.
“We should have killed the game really at 3-1 up. In the second half I thought we were poor. It was like a basketball game. I think we're disappointed with a draw,” he said.
“I'm obviously over the moon to get two goals at Villa Park in a big game but we let in two silly goals so I'm still disappointed.”
