Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill hails Luke Freeman's progress this season By a_stockhausen please log in to view this image Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill is in no doubt that midfield star Luke Freeman is a better player now than when he first arrived at Ashton Gate. Signed for an undisclosed six-figure fee from Stevenage last summer, the former Arsenal youth-team player was considered a talented crowd-pleaser. But Freeman, now 23, has been reinvented since meeting Cotterill and has now become the complete box-to-box midfielder. Nominated for the League One player of the year award, Freeman has contributed 20 assists please log in to view this image , scored six goals and been a model of consistency for the Robins this season. All of which his manager attributes to his professional approach and willingness to work hard please log in to view this image for the team. Cotterill said: "I'm delighted with Luke and with the progress he has made since he came into the club. He has matured, become more athletic and there is definitely more professionalism in him. "Not that he was a bad professional before, but he has probably had that drummed into him here and become a better one. An important part please log in to view this image of becoming a better professional is watching what you put in your mouth and diet is key. "How you train is also important and there is no hiding place for footballers these days. "If a club has everything in terms of diet, fitness and nutrition right, which we have here, players cannot get away with taking short please log in to view this image cuts. "We monitor how far they run, their recovery times and their fitness levels. Luke Freeman, like the others, will benefit from that, providing he wants to be a good professional. He is a fantastic lad and he has bought into what we want him to do. "Because of the way he has looked after himself, he has not lost any time through injury and, on the odd occasion he has missed a game, it has been because I've pulled him out for a rest. We've played 56 games now and he's probably played in 50 of them." A talismanic figure at previous club Stevenage, Freeman was deployed in several different roles and deemed a potential match-winner in a struggling side that was relegated from League One last season. But his role has been redefined at City and the Londoner has spent the campaign playing as a central midfielder with responsibilities both to defend and support the strikers. As far as Cotterill is concerned, Freeman has become more of a team player since signing on at Ashton Gate. He explained: "Every time he got the ball at Stevenage, he had to do something special with it. In order to try to keep them up, he would have to produce a free-kick out of the top drawer or score a spectacular goal. "Now he is here, he can do something special just by finding a red shirt and then moving to receive the next pass. That is all part of being the team player he has become. "In among those quick feet please log in to view this image , little chips, balls played inside defenders and goals he has scored, there is a real honest, hard-working boy who, when we are under the cosh, will get back goal-side and skirmish for the ball. He is very much appreciated by all of us." http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristo...l-hails-Luke/story-26365702-detail/story.html
I reckon we'd get a million for him now if we were to sell. I've always been a fan of Freeman, but I didn't think he'd be as good as he has been. Frankly, I'd look to build the team around him for next season. If he upped his work rate and worked hard towards becoming an even more complete player I reckon he'd be Premier League bound.