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London - Everton manager Roberto Martinez said that Gerard Deulofeu could be "as good as he wants" to be after the Spaniard sent his side into the League Cup semi-finals.
Deulofeu beat two men before scoring a 20th-minute opener and then teed up Romelu Lukaku with a dazzling run and cross as Everton won 2-0 at second-tier Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
It left Everton three games away from a first major trophy since 1995 and Martinez did not hold back in his praise of match-winner Deulofeu, who signed from Barcelona in July following a previous loan spell in 2013-14.
Asked how good the 21-year-old winger can become, Martinez replied: "As good as he wants - that's a big part.
"As you know, football is not an individual game, football is a team game and as a player, you are never too old or too young to learn and you need to get things that help you to become effective for the team.
"Gerard is a young man in terms of the amount of games that he's played at this level, so he needs a lot of games. But as a natural talent, he's as good as it gets.
"He's got that talent that you dream to have. He's got the talent that anyone would pay for a ticket to watch him."
Everton will learn their opponents for the two-legged semi-finals later on Wednesday.
