Abdoulaye Doucoure has big ambitions for himself this season, and is hoping to improve his already considerable talents enough to become one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old has come into his own after breaking into the Hornets line-up midway through last season, and has become one of the first names on the teamsheet at Vicarage Road.

And despite a spirited campaign to keep him under the radar, Doucoure is starting to turn heads outside of Hertfordshire, albeit with good reason after a series of impressive performances.

Now the ambitious midfielder is targeting a personal goal of becoming one of the best in the league, with one of his countrymen the focus of his inspiration.

He said: "I’m happy, I work for where I have come to and I want to be one of the best midfielders in the league, and a leader, I have to work on that and at the end of the season you’ll see where I am.

"I think I have to improve in the Premier League; no one knows me, I have to work and want to be one of the best, but I have to show performances like at Southampton.

"N’Golo Kante was the best player in the Premier League at Leicester. There's a lot of midfielders I look up to, but in myself I want to show my quality too."