Each day we pick out a player and cut through the noise to give analytical, objective insight. Wednesday's focus is on Alejandro Garnacho.
- Age: 18
- Position: Winger
- Club: Manchester United
- Country: Argentina
There is always the temptation to go overboard and hyperbolise when an exciting teenage talent bursts on to the scene.
But for every Cristiano Ronaldo, there will be a Federico Macheda. For every Michael Owen, a Neil Mellor. For every Wayne Rooney, a James Vaughan. No offence to those players, of course, but their career did not take off quite as some expected.
So, what to make of Manchester United's dazzling Argentinian talent, Alejandro Garnacho? A player that has made a very big impact in a short of space of time this season.
In just 222 minutes of Premier League football, he has scored one goal - a stoppage-time winner at Fulham - and assisted two more, most notably Marcus Rashford's decisive strike in the 2-1 Manchester derby win last weekend.
As the above graphic shows, he is keeping heady company in the assists per 90 minutes charts and while substitutes tend to do well in that category (note the Leeds duo), it must also be recognised they have far less time to make a goal-related impact.
The above figures only include Premier League games too - Garnacho has been just as productive, if not more, in his handful of cup competition appearances for Erik ten Hag's Red Devils.
He has scored once in two Europa League starts - the winner at Real Sociedad - and produced a match-changing display off the bench in November's League Cup win over Aston Villa, creating United's final two goals as they won 4-2 from 2-1 down.
Indeed, Garnacho is quickly developing a reputation as a supersub - in eight substitute appearances this term he has scored one goal and contributed four assists, compared to just one assist and zero goals in six games as a starter.
That could well be down to his pace, fearlessness and direct approach being more of a problem to defenders weary later on in games than when they are fresh early on but his average of a shot every 28 minutes indicates his burgeoning confidence.
If he continues to produce such figures, the youngster - who helped United win the FA Youth Cup last season - will add to a list of growing admirers that is already reported to include Real Madrid and Juventus.
Garnacho's current deal at Old Trafford runs until 2024 with an option, believed to be in the club's favour, for an extra year but United are keen to tie him down for longer.
Comparisons with Ronaldo, who broke through at a similar age, are inevitable but the Portuguese's early years were plagued by criticisms of his end product, something he worked tirelessly to improve - but Garnacho seems to have mastered it already.
Of course, the teenager is far from perfect with plenty of wrinkles in his game to be ironed out - his ratio of unssucessful dribbles to successful ones is by far the lowest among the United squad, with a success rate of around just 5%.
That is part and parcel of being a winger and also a byproduct of his game, where he is not afraid of taking risks. But when he does beat his man, he is creating goals and Ten Hag has already said he is happy for the player to continue this attacking approach, a quality that gets fans on the edge of their seats and defenders on their haunches.
“He has a skill that I don’t see many players in the Premier League having — he beats players one on one. He’s acting as a team player and with his individual skills that can make the difference," Ten Hag said recently.
“There is a lot of room for improvement with him but he can help, he can contribute on the highest level already and I’m really happy." And, with the figures Garnacho is producing at such a tender age amid a rebuilding project at United, so he should be.