Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has advised Connor Wickham to observe Diego Costa, Christian Benteke and Olivier Giroud in order to improve his game.
Pardew paid an initial £7m to sign Wickham from Sunderland in the summer and gave him a five-year contract at Selhurst Park, because of his faith in the 22-year-old's potential.
Wickham, who has made a reasonable start at Palace, is expected to miss Sunday's Premier League fixture at Liverpool with a calf injury, but Pardew is already relishing his return and wants him to model himself on one of the strikers Palace are to come up against.
"We've really missed, Connor, we've lost him since we beat Chelsea, and I think his presence through the middle has been a factor in us not getting more points than we've got," said Pardew.
"But he hasn't got that [centre forward's] job nailed down, and he needs to understand what [Chelsea's] Costa does well, what [Liverpool's] Benteke does well, what Giroud does well for Arsenal.
"If he can add a bit of that to his game, his pace and his technique that he has, then we'll have ourselves a great player, but he is still learning.
"He was changing position from what he did mainly at Sunderland, and to turn him into a Premier League No 9, he's had a bit of a learning curve and then this injury so I need to get him back on that learning curve."
Wickham often played in one of the wide positions in a front three at Sunderland, but Pardew believes that potential can be fulfilled in a central position.
"Most teams play with a No 9 that has a certain amount of power and presence," the manager said. "You do need that in the modern game. You need more technical ability, you need more speed, and I can think of one or two old players who would be absolutely superb in the modern game, someone like Peter Osgood.
"What Connor needs to find is an identity of what he will bring. He can't be Costa and he can't be Benteke and he's certainly not Peter Osgood, so he needs to find what he can be in that role but he has all the armoury that you need.
"He needs to get stronger mentally, he needs to get stronger physically, and have experience, and when he puts them three with the technique that he has, then I think we're going to have a fine player.
"If you were going to design the modern striker, it wouldn't be far from what he has: 6ft 2ins, power, quick, and two good feet."