Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is excited about the potential of Cristiano Romero, but warns supporters must be patient with the Argentine.
Spurs are set to make the 23-year-old's loan from Atalanta permanent after some impressive performances this season.
And Conte thinks the former Serie A defender of the year can blossom into a top level stopper in England.
"He is young. He has not great experience. He is a young player with a lot of space to develop. I see him in this way," said the Italian. "For sure he has good potential to improve, with the ball and without the ball. We are talking about another young player, you have to make experience and take experience and improve yourself.
"For sure he likes to be aggressive and to be strong in the duels. To be a defender. In this aspect he is good. A defender has to be strong physically and the opponent has to feel that you are strong in the duels. For sure he has a lot of space for improvement with the ball and without the ball.
"With the ball with centre defenders, I like to start to play from behind. We are working a lot and I think we are improving in this aspect. In modern football it is not enough to be only a good defender. You have to be good to play, as many teams start to play from the back.
"We are trying to improve in every aspect with our defenders, also with this aspect, but Romero is another young player with good prospects. When I speak about patience, when I speak about the time we need to bring this club and to improve the level, it is this.
"It is his first season in this league and you know very well the difficulty of this league. For sure he is a good prospect and a player who can become an important player. You know very well to become an important player it is important to have a great desire, a great will and then he has the possibility to do this."
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