Barcelona star Lionel Messi is backing Newcastle United winger Jonas Gutierrez to take the Premier League by storm this season.
Messi insists his Argentina team-mate is as good as anyone in England's top-flight - including Wayne Rooney and World Cup winners Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres.
He told the Daily Star Sunday: "The Premier League have not seen it yet but Jonas is one of the best players in the league.
"I know you guys have Rooney, Fabregas, Torres and many more stars - but Jonas is as good as any of them.
"I am backing him to show it this season. Maradona calls him one of the three most important players in the Argentina squad and I think he is right - that is how good he is.
"It takes time for a player to adjust to a new country and he has now been there long enough to show his true form.
"By the end of the season I would expect the very best teams in Europe to be trying to sign him.
"But he told me during the World Cup that, as long as Newcastle stay in the top-flight, he would like to finish his career there."
