David Villa isn't known for much hyperbole, so when the World Cup winner and New York City FC captain delivers praise about a team-mate, you tend to believe him. That made his most recent comments about Jack Harrison all the more head-turning.

Shortly after Harrison enjoyed the best game of his young career, scoring a goal and setting up Villa's second in the 2-0 victory against the rival New York Red Bulls earlier in July, Villa put into words what the rest of MLS is quickly finding out.

Jack Harrison is a special young talent.

"I’ve spent a lot of years in this game, and he has something important that only a few players have," Villa said. "When he has the ball at his feet, you get the sensation something is going to happen.

“Few players give you that feeling and he has it. He has it at 19 years old, with not much time as a professional," Villa added. "And he has it, which is the most important thing, along with being a great kid who knows where he has to take his career, and day after day he wants to learn and grow."

Villa knows what playing with such players is like, having been teammates with Lionel Messi at Barcelona and playmakers like Xavi and Andres Iniesta with Barca and the Spanish national team. In Harrison, NYCFC has found a young talent who combines fearlessness with speed and technical quality, a recipe that has helped NYCFC find a new gear since he returned from injury a little more than a month priot.