Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has always been "ahead of his time" and a "student of the game", according to his former Everton teammate Leon Osman.
The Spaniard spent three years as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, before taking his first managerial role at the Emirates at the start of this year.
And Osman is tipping big things from his former Toffees teammate.
He told The Sportsman: "He was a really good player, technically fantastic, his delivery, his attitude, he'd probably be in the top three or four (of players played with).
"What he brought to Everton was a change in attitude off the pitch. That culture, he was the point in football, the foreign players changed things but he improved standards, no drinking, real professionalism, extra care in what he ate. How well he could be playing, so fit and you wanted to be at that standard too.
"He was ahead of his time, he was a student of the game and I always felt he would go into management because he sees the game in a good way, he's tactically very good and became captain with his leadership quality.
"To see him with Pep Guardiola, the education he will have got in that stint as assistant manager will have improved him. People are saying nothing but good things about his first decisions and what he's done."