Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says he was keeping an eye on Tammy Abraham in the Championship last season.
Abraham scored 26 goals on at loan at Aston Villa last season and came up against Lampard at Derby County.
Lampard has used Abraham this season to great effect, with the England international bagging 10 Premier League goals.
"He'd already scored goals in the Championship with Bristol City," Lampard said. "After that, he had a year at Swansea in the Premier League and a tough year where they obviously struggled and he didn't get the goals he's getting now.
"It was an important loan for him to go to a big club where the responsibility is strong on you as the main man upfront to score goals. He obviously reacted well to that and scored a lot. He worked on his game. I saw that.
"He would have been all the better for working closely with Dean and John in that role there. It gave him confidence and it felt the right time for him to come back after that. Now he's had a few loans, he's scored goals, he's proved it.
"It was very natural for the progression from my point of view for him to come back. I only knew Tammy from a distance when he was in and around the academy.
"All I saw was what I saw last year in the Championship, which impressed me, and what I saw from the first day of pre-season, which impressed me. That's why I decided to give him the No.9 shirt.
"I felt, even though people were questioning it because maybe it's seen as something that's not been a huge success, to put that burden on someone, Tammy seemed the right personality to take that. Fortunately to this point he's shown that he can."