Lille starlet Sofiane Boufal, who counts Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur amongst his suitors, has opened up on those players in the game he considers his idols.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, whose form has been a bright spot for Lille in a disappointing campaign to date, pointed to Chelsea and Barcelona as where, for him, the technically best players are.
Boufal is a firm fan of Chelsea's Eden Hazard, a player who counts Lille amongst his former clubs, while he also admires Neymar and Lionel Messi, along with Andres Iniesta.
And the Lille star is determined to watch his heroes closely and learn from what they do on the pitch.
Speaking to French daily La Voix du Nord, Boufal said: "I am attracted to players with a similar sort of playing style to me, like Neymar, Hazard and Messi; this one is an alien! He has hands instead of feet.
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"I really like Iniesta. He is the opposite [to the others], but I like his simplicity.
"I watch their games to learn", he added.
Boufal, who is locked down on a contract until the summer of 2019 with Lille, has clocked up 17 appearances in all competitions for the northern French side so far, scoring five goals.
Lille's resolve to keep the attacking midfielder could be tested in the current transfer window.
