Jack Grealish went quiet as he thought about the question. He recognised the size of the comparison and, initially, struggled to find the right word but then came a smile.
Actually, it was far more than a smile. He was beaming, consumed in the moment. Grealish had been asked whether he knew about Paul Gascoigne and what he made of being likened to him. It would have been easy to be diplomatic or duck the subject but the glint in his eye told you everything.
‘Do you what?’ the Aston Villa midfielder replied. ‘I don’t really see myself as him but I would love to be like him, the way that he played football.