Sunderland boss Jack Ross believes that youngster Benjamin Mbunga-Kimpioka has a lot of attributes about him that can make him a star player in the future.
The starlet took a giant leap as he managed to become part of Ross's plans in pre-season and has since featured twice at senior level, his debut coming in the EFL Trophy against Stoke City Under-21s last month.
He also appeared for a single minute in the match against Peterborough United a week ago and is now hoping for more as the season progresses.
The 42-year-old manager insists that there is no reason why Mbunga-Kimpioka cannot play more football, after seeing him play for the Under-23 team, whom he follows closely.
"It's so hard to have regular contact with the younger players, even because of the way we train and everything – it's not terrific from that point of view", Ross was quoted as saying by Chronicle Live.
"So when he came into my squad in pre-season he played wide, but I've watched as many of the U23 games as I can get to and now I think he is probably better suited to playing in a more central role because he is so off-the-cuff.
"When I've watched him for the U23s, he can have spells where he has two or three minutes of doing brilliant things, and then two or three minutes where we don't see him.
"He's young, he's still learning, and I like him – I think he's got good attributes.
"He's pretty laid-back and he has got something about him, I think you can see that."
The young talent has appeared in five games for the Under-23 team this season, clocking up 343 minutes.
