Exeter City striker Jayden Wareham is good enough to impress beyond League One, according to manager Gary Caldwell.
The 22-year-old scored his ninth goal of the season in the 3-0 win over Barnsley that took Exeter out of the League One relegation places.
Wareham, a summer signing from Reading, has become Exeter’s first-choice forward in recent months.
Caldwell sees similarities between him and Millenic Alli, who left Exeter for Luton Town last January for a fee worth £1.5m.
“I think when Millenic Ali did that we all know what he was valued at and what happened with his career, it goes to the next level,” Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.
“I think Jayden Wareham is a top striker at this level and beyond.
“He’s still in his early 20s, and not just his goals, how he plays the game, how he leads the line.
“I think he has that little bit of aggression. I’ve played against those centre-forwards that leave a bit on you and he’s aggressive and he’s cute and he knows how to use his smaller frame.
“His aerial ability is incredible for his size, his timing and the way he leads the line and presses from the front is brilliant and the goals will come off the back of that.
“He knows how to score goals, I can’t teach him that. What I think we’ve done with him and worked with him on is that number nine who can press from the front and lead the team as the starting block of our out-of-possession work and he’s doing that incredibly well.”
