Wayne Rooney has compared the rise of Chelsea manager Graham Potter with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
After a playing career spent almost entirely outside the Premier League, Potter worked a number of jobs in amateur football before moving to Sweden with Ostersund.
The Englishman excelled in Sweden before landing at Chelsea via Brighton and Swansea City.
Rooney spoke with Potter last year and the DC United coach has compared him with other great Premier League managers.
"I spoke to Graham last year," he told The Times. "I had a few hours with him on Zoom and he went through his journey with me. He was good, interesting.
"He was sharing his ideas and I was sharing my ideas of how I work. It's good to bounce ideas off another coach — I've done similar with Gareth Southgate and a few others.
"You look at Graham, or Arsene Wenger who went to Asia. [Jose] Mourinho has been in different places. Fergie started with small clubs in Scotland. Patrick Vieira managed over here [at New York City FC] and went to France.
"Everyone has a different pathway but they all did what they did to educate themselves and better themselves. Sometimes as a manager you just take the job that's there, and work your way from there."
