Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill believes Ashley Young can match the success of Barcelona ace Lionel Messi and Manchester United's Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
O'Neill said: "You talk about Ronaldo and Messi. Is Young in that company? Yes. I've just put him in it.
"This is my opinion. I look at players, I see a lot of games in Europe. I watch a lot of football and you see a lot of players playing the game who are very functional.
"Some are decent, some are more than decent and some are very good.
"And then you have a few players who are absolutely exceptional and Ashley Young is absolutely exceptional.
"I think he's a world-class performer, I really do. I don't use that too often but he's absolutely class.
"And he's far from reached his peak. Look at other top quality players - players who are 22 or 23 and absolutely brilliant like Ronaldo and Messi and ask how they can improve - but they do.
"They just get better. They see the game differently from how they might have done a few years earlier."