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Watford youngster Yaser Asprilla has been backed to be ‘one of the best Colombian footballers’ by former coach Alberto Suárez.

Asprilla is one of the hottest prospects in Colombian football, having shined for Envigado in Liga Dimayor over the last year.

His performances earned him the attention of Watford, who moved quickly to snap him up in a £2.7m deal this month.

He’s the latest in a growing list of South American youngsters to join Watford, who made a habit of picking up young talent from the continent over the last few years.

Asprilla has the potential to be another star, something demonstrated by the fact he has already been called up to the Colombian national team despite his age and the fact he’s managed 22 games as a professional.

That shows the faith in him in his homeland, and his former coach has backed him to become one of the best players Colombia have produced in the last decade.

“I dare to say that, if he continues on the path of tranquillity and psychologically, he can handle that success,” he told Gol Caracol in an interview about the youngster.

“Yaser will be one of the best players that Colombian football has given in the last decade, due to all the conditions he has, not only those that I can describe but also those that have been seen in each of the matches in which he has played.

“He is a very modern number ten, a midfielder who reaches the area very easily, but here we insist a lot on the defensive phase as well.

“Although he is a light player, he is someone who has that condition of helping defensively, but the most important thing is offensively. He has innate, very special abilities.

“Watford have made a great investment; hopefully, that will open the doors for others because there are others who are coming.”