Fernandinho has likened Sergio Aguero to Brazil legend Romario and believes his Manchester City teammate can go on to become one of the best strikers ever.
Fernandinho grew up watching Romario -- who claims to have scored over 1,000 goals -- as a youngster, including when the forward guided the Selecao to World Cup success in 1994.
And the midfielder says he is reminded of the former Barcelona man when watching Aguero in action for City -- a player who has netted 79 Premier League goals in just 122 appearances.
"He is like Romario when he plays," Fernandinho is quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph. "I watched Romario when I was young and he was one of my idols.
"Sergio has a great chance to be the best striker in the world, to be like them as one of the best ever, if he keeps working hard as he is now.
"When Romario or Ronaldo missed a chance they continued and go for the next one. They continued working and trying and this is the difference of the great players. That's what Sergio is like."
Aguero opened the scoring in City's 3-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday, despite still working his way back to full fitness after taking part in the summer's Copa America with Argentina.
Fernandinho feels it could be vital for City to keep the striker injury-free if they want to win the Premier League title this season.
"It's important to keep Sergio fit. When he is fit, he can cause a lot of problems for the opponents and help us with goals and assists," he said.
"Last year he was the best striker in the Premier League and top scorer, but he didn't win the title of player of the year. This year I hope he can score a lot of goals again and he can win that title."
Fernandinho added: "We have come to win the title this season. Preseason, the manager prepared the team very well and we have started very well. We are much stronger as a team.
"The important thing is to win the title and if we can do it with style and by entertaining, it's perfect. But if you cannot we have to be more consistent, especially in defending. This season we have started very different from last year and we are in a good position to have a great season."