Former Manchester City and Chelsea winger Shaun Wright Phillips believes Ruben Dias can reach the same level as John Terry.
The Portugal centre-back needed no time to adjust to Premier League football after joining from Benfica in the summer of 2020, in a deal reportedly worth €68m.
Dias became a pillar in Pep Guardiola's defence, taking out the Premier League Player of the Season award as City won the league title.
Wright-Phillips played a number of seasons with former centre-back Terry, who is considered one of the best defenders of his generation.
And the former England winger thinks Dias, who is only 24, can reach those levels if he can deliver across a number of seasons.
"I think if Ruben Dias keeps performing the way he is then he can reach those heights," Wright-Phillips told TribalFootball.com, on behalf of Bonus Finder.
"But he's a long way off from John Terry, he did that consistently across his career where he was the main man all the time.
"There are definitely similar attributes between the two, the leader mentality, the way they play on the ball and the fact that both of them are always on the end of a block of a cross or shot.
"From watching Dias play since he arrived, I can say he's heading in that direction, but he's still got some work to do to reach those levels."
Dias played 50 times across all competitions last season as City also claimed the Carabao Cup and lost in the Champions League final to Chelsea.
A domineering and intelligent defender, Dias has also impressed Wright-Phillips with his leadership qualities.
Asked what Dias has brought to the City defence, the 39-year-old added: "I think as a centre back you need to read the game well and do your job back there.
"But if you can communicate to the rest of the team whether that be the guys in front of you, your fullback or your centre back partner then it's a massive trait to have.
"He sees things happen way before other defenders see them, so if you can control as much as you can it avoids situations of being isolated in defence.
"He's come in and assured that defence and given the team a platform to perform.
"City were dropping a lot of points before he arrived, and he's managed to turn those draws or defeats into wins.
"Sometimes when City don't quite create the chances or score the goals in games, you can rely on that defence to keep clean sheets and at least come away with something from the game, so there's positives in that."
