Jeremy Doku believes he has what it takes to become one of the world's elite wingers. The Belgian international has revealed that studying footage of two of the greatest players of his generation, Lionel Messi and Neymar, has helped him forge his own path to stardom.
Growing up, Doku immersed himself in videos of Messi and Neymar during their prime years. Now, as a key player for Manchester City, he aspires to be mentioned alongside them. He will have the chance to showcase his talents on Saturday when City face Southampton at Wembley for a place in the FA Cup semi-final.
Doku is convinced that increasing his goal tally will elevate him to the next level. He said: "I liked to watch Neymar. I like to watch, obviously Messi was a winger before. I just watched them. I like to watch them. And then I just created my own thing. I just admire them. But I can't do what they do - and they don't do what I do. I just try to do my own thing with what my qualities are."
He added: "I believe, yeah, if I have (more) goals, I can be one of the best. A winger needs to score. If I have those goals then I believe that I can get there for sure. 100 per cent. If I have goals, we are talking about a different conversation. You should ask defenders what they think. What do they think? But I'm sure that they would say that, obviously if I score goals, this is a different conversation that we have."
Doku joined City from Rennes in a £55 million deal in 2023, walking into a dressing room full of Treble winners. Rather than feeling intimidated, he was determined to prove his worth. He said: "Yeah, it's not easy because you come from Rennes. I'm sure they didn't watch a lot of my games in France! So maybe they didn't know me. So you have to prove, you have to also show that you deserve to be here. Nothing will be given to you. You have to take it. And that was also my mentality. So I wanted just to show my capabilities. What I'm able to do - and that's what I tried to do."
He continued: "Coming into the dressing room, you have to also acknowledge that you play with top quality players. So you also have to raise your standards. Improve your quality up."
Since joining City, Doku has won four trophies, but the FA Cup has eluded him. He admits the hunger for silverware remains insatiable within the squad, as they aim to be remembered as one of the greatest teams of all time. City are still in contention for a domestic Treble this season.
Doku remarked: "I think when City buy players, they know which mentality, which characteristics the players have. And also we have a coach that's very passionate. He pushes us every time. We have experienced players that won a lot, who are still hungry. We have young players that come in this club and know that this club is used to winning trophies. So we're all driven by that."
