Graham Potter could not help but raise his eyebrows and bemusement when one West Ham United youngster was likened to Arsenal and Premier League icon Patrick Vieira earlier in the campaign.

It was ‘too early’, Potter said, to suggest Mohamadou Kante could be West Ham’s own Patrick Vieira later down the line.

In truth, he was probably right. The Paris-born 20-year-old had not even played a single minute of senior football up until that point. Academy football is not always the most accurate indicator of a player’s true potential.

See Divin Mubama, for instance. Prolific with both West Ham United and Manchester City in Premier League two, Mubama scored a quickfire hat-trick for Stoke back in November against Bristol City. That, though, is the only Championship game in which he has found the net across his last 17 appearances in the competition.

So although Nuno Espirito Santo’s predecessor is maybe not the right man to ask – Potter never seemed convinced in Freddie Potts’ potential either – it was understandable that he felt reluctant to draw comparisons between young Mohamadou Kante and one of the finest midfielders in Premier League history.

But now, with a second coach joining the dots and handing out such lofty praise to the former Paris FC teenager, the expectations and the excitement surrounding West Ham’s broad-shouldered number 55 look set to go up a notch.

West Ham United’s Mohamadou Kante likened to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira again

While coaching Kante with West Ham’s Under-21s earlier in the campaign, Mark Robson first drew those Patrick Vieira comparisons.

He watched on in awe as the imposing midfielder waltzed through the Woking backline and coolly finished during a 2-0 victory back in August.

A West Ham debut for Ezra Mayers! Which academy kid will be the next Freddie Potts and why?

“The one thing that’s always stood out about Ezra is his love for coming in every day, training and being a player at West Ham. He’s really kicked on in these last two years.”

– Academy Manager, Kenny Brown

Kante dreams of producing 20 goal contributions during his debut season in England. Four months after announcing himself in style, he is nearly halfway to achieving that aim already.

Though Kante needed a ‘heroic’ Finlay Herrick to bail him out on Tuesday night in Essex.

West Ham’s ‘outstanding’ young goalkeeper pulled off a stoppage-time penalty save to ensure Kante’s clumsy foul inside the box would not receive the ultimate punishment. This, plus George Earthy’s first-half winner, means Greg Lincoln’s side have a round-of-16 EFL Trophy clash to look forward to in the near future.

“You’ve got to remember, they have got good players,” Colchester manager Danny Cowley said after watching his team come up against some of the brightest young talents in England, plus a couple of players coming off loan spells in clubs much higher up the ladder.

“They are not really an Under-21s team. [Callum] Marshall was Player of the Year at Huddersfield. You’ve got Earthy.

“You’ve got Kante who’s just… wow. A player like Patrick Vieira, incredible athleticism and physicality.

“You’ve got young [Josh] Ajala and [Preston] Fearon, who are England [youth] internationals. And the goalkeeper, I don’t know where they got him from but he was good as well.”

Watch West Ham’s dramatic WIN over Colchester United!

What do YOU think the future holds for Finlay Herrick?

Finlay Herrick’s heroics secure West Ham an round-of-16 spot in the EFL Trophy

One suspects that, if West Ham are willing to loan out a Herrick, an Ajala or a Fearon at some point, Cowley and Colchester will be near the front of the queue.

West Ham are the only reserve team left in this season’s EFL Trophy, meanwhile. No Under-21 side has ever reached the final.

“West Ham have got some really, really good players,” adds Cowley. “We wanted to be aggressive with our pressure, but we were too passive, didn’t play with enough personality, with enough character.

“In the first 60 minutes, we were well short. The last 30 minutes, we probably showed that if we had played the way we had set out to, we would have been in a good place to win the game.

“We had chance after chance after chance and, but for a brilliant goalkeeping display, I think we probably win the game.

“You don’t lose the game because we missed chances, because the goalkeeper had a brilliant game and we miss a penalty in the 90th minute. We lose that game because of the way we started it.”