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Former Wolves winger Jordan Graham is up there with the best in League 1, says Gillingham manager Steve Evans.
Graham has been a standout player for the Gills so far, scoring five times and claiming just as many assists, and only Peterborough’s Siriki Dembele can match him in terms of excitement, says Evans.
The 25-year-old, who started his career with Aston Villa before spending five years at Molineux, has produced the goods since dropping down a couple of levels to sign permanently with the Gills.
Graham has already created five goals for his team from his crosses, three of them headed in by a grateful Vadaine Oliver, while he’s also dropped the ball onto the head of John Akinde and Dominic Samuel in recent weeks.
With five goals himself it’s easy to forgive him for a penalty miss against Sunderland and manager Evans knows he’s got a special talent on his hands.
The Gills boss, who left him out of last week's EFL Trophy squad, said: “For me, he is one of the two most exciting players in the league.
“There is Jordan Graham and there is Siriki Dembele, who I signed (for Peterborough United in June 2018) from Grimsby.”
Dembele has six goals to his name this season, including a hat-trick against Shrewsbury. He’s also claimed a handful of assists.
“They are the two players that you would pay money to go and watch,” Evans continued.
“They would make a man pay £15 to go and watch. We have seen it with Jordan’s performance last time out (providing two assists and playing a key role in a fightback against Woking in the FA Cup). I thought he was absolutely outstanding.
“He is a super talent, a confidence boy, we love him, we love having him around but I have told him the fact that he is best mates with the racing driver (Lewis Hamilton) cuts no ice with me!
“If he keeps playing like that and keeps developing, he will keep getting better. Jordan has played a lot of games at Championship level and played against my team at Leeds, and of course we did beat them.
“He is a terrific talent, he really is. He is a smashing kid, we will keep filling him with confidence, keep giving him belief and he can go on and play at a higher level than anyone of us have been in the next couple of years, he has absolutely everything in his locker.
“I keep saying to him, keep being humble and keep working hard, I remember having the same conversation with some of the lads at Leeds. Lewis Cook (now at Bournemouth), Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor, both now at Burnley and playing in the Premier League, I said to keep being humble, same with Stuart Dallas at Leeds.
“They were humble, worked hard, were focussed and disciplined and if Jordan maintains those criterias and those ingredients then he will achieve those things, along with three or four others in the group.”
