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Jamie Redknapp compares Premier League star to Cristiano Ronaldo

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp heaped praise on Watford’s 20-year-old forward Richarlison following their late 4-2 loss at Chelsea on Saturday.

The Brazilian actually missed two sitters in the opening five minutes of the second half, either side of Roberto Pereyra’s goal that had given the Hornets a surprise lead at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea struck three times in the final 20 minutes including Cesar Azpilicueta’s 87th minute winner to make Watford pay for Richarlison’s misses.

The forward’s first effort was six yard outs following a low cross into the box from the right with Azpilicueta providing a desperate lunge that seemed to put the Brazilian off as he scuffed wide with Thibaut Courtois desperately scampering across his goal.

After his elegant pass had set up Watford’s second goal, Richarlison then found space in the six yard box for a free header but put that wide too.  Substitute Michy Batshuayi showed him how it was done, first by equalising and then by scoring Chelsea’s fourth, in stoppage time.

Despite these misses, Richarlison has made an excellent start to life in the Premier League following his £11.2 million move from Fluminense in the summer.  He was involved in Watford’s stoppage time equaliser versus Liverpool in their season opener, scored in their 2-0 win at Bournemouth in the following game, scored their stoppage time winner at Swansea and in their 2-2 draw at West Brom at the end of September.  Richarlison also won a penalty as Watford came from behind to beat Arsenal last weekend.

Speaking on Sky Sports during the analysis of Watford’s 4-2 loss at Chelsea on Saturday, Jamie Redknapp compared Richarlison to a young Cristiano Ronaldo:

“I have to be very careful because I know what people are like, they’ll start to say that I’m comparing him to Ronaldo or saying that he’ll be better than him.

“[But] he has the capability, the little things that he does are a little bit like a young Ronaldo.

“I’m not saying he can be as good as him but he does special things on the ball that only a few people can do – he drifts past people, there’s a little bit of petulance in his game still but if the manager can polish that diamond that’s there then he’s on to something.

“You can have a super talent and I remember seeing Ronaldo and thinking this kid is so special. He’s got the lot it’s just the little bits that he needs to polish.”

We signed Cristiano Ronaldo as an 18-year-old in 2003 for a similar fee – £12.24 million from Sporting Club of Portugal.  He has since gone on to become one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Ronaldo won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the 2008 Champions League during six seasons at Manchester United before joining Real Madrid for a then world record transfer fee of £80 million in 2009.  He has gone on to win La Liga twice and the Champions League a further three times with the Spanish giants.

What future awaits for Richarlison only time will tell.  But under Marco Silva he has an excellent opportunity to develop within an exciting team and one that is proving to be surprise package during the 2017-18 Premier League season.