Sunderland midfielder Jordi Gomez is in no doubt over the debt of gratitude he owes Everton boss Roberto Martinez as he prepares to renew acquaintances with his former mentor when the two teams clash at the Stadium of Light.
Martinez hauled his fellow Spaniard to the British game first via a loan spell with Swansea in 2008 followed by a five-year spell with Wigan which proved equally fruitful for the respective careers of both men. For Gomez it represented the opportunity to become a Premier League regular after spending his formative years struggling to make himself noticed alongside the likes of Lionel Messi in Barcelona's youth ranks, followed by a move to Espanyol.
Gomez left the JJB Stadium to link up with the Black Cats in the summer and underlined his importance to the team in Monday night's crucial 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Gomez said: "He [Martinez] gave me the chance to come to England so I am always grateful to him. At Swansea and Wigan I learned a lot from him.
"He brought me to England and when I first started working with him I thought he was good. He knows how to deal with players and he's very clever.
"He has everything to go higher than he is now. With all due respect to Everton he has everything to become one of the top managers in the world."
Gomez has found himself at the centre of a struggling side this season with Gus Poyet's men battling to steer clear of the relegation zone and suffering an humiliating 8-0 defeat at Southampton.
But Gomez believes the manner in which his side managed to shrug off that loss and hit back with an improved display against Arsenal and a rugged win against Palace bodes well for the remainder of their campaign.
Gomez added: "We way we have come back from the Southampton defeat shows how close the players are.
"It's not about the disappointment of losing the game, it is about how you react to the result, and I think we did quite well against Arsenal.
"Obviously we weren't excellent but you could see a response from the team in how we worked, and on Monday [against Palace] we got a very good three points."
Lee Cattermole is suspended for a game which could see Poyet's men cap their recent improvement by moving into the top half of the table. Defender Patrick van Aanholt is also missing with a dislocated shoulder.