Thou shalt not fall in love with a loan player; it's a rule all lower league fans try to abide by, but it can be very difficult at times. Every so often a player on a temporary stay creates a bond and excites the fanbase to such an extent, the reality that he will be leaving at the end of the season is just too tough to bear.
For Bristol Rovers it happened last season with Luke McCormick's stay from Chelsea. The midfielder one of the only shining lights in an increasingly bleak season and with the additional punch to the gut that had the Gas managed to stay in League One, he'd almost have certainly signed on a permanent deal.
Prior to that, Dennis Bailey's spell from Crystal Palace in 1989 still reduces certain generations to a mild quiver while in recent times Rory Gaffney and Mikkel Andersen can be credibly considered as part of this conversation.
It only leaves supporters vulnerable for more heartache and just as Connor Taylor was starting to form a McCormick-esque connection with fans, along comes a playmaker from the North East whose impact has been nothing short of mesmerising, and potentially meteoric if he can help get the Gas over the line.
Having delivered a sensational solo goal to help defeat Harrogate on Saturday, Anderson brought the razzle dazzle to the Mem four days later as his strike sunk Colchester United and lifted Rovers into the League Two play-off places for the first time this season.
But while his goals obviously turn heads, what's remarkable is that, at 19, he is not just showing flashes of Premier League-quality magic in games, he's a driving force in what is an incredibly challenging and tough league, physically as well as mentally.
Newcastle's concern of letting one of their best talents drop down two divisions, having preferred a Championship stint, would be that his natural technical instincts and talents could become swallowed up by the physicality of the fourth tier. Not so, and, if anything, Anderson is going toe-to-toe in that department.
With nine games remaining of the season (plus potentially three in the play-offs), he will likely be as important as any figure in that team; capable of winning games not quite on his own, but with such moments of pure quality they can only have originated from him.
And a signing that looked, at the time, one of promise but also requiring a degree of patience, could prove to be the masterstroke that makes the difference between automatic promotion and play-offs, or even missing out altogether.
As the cliche goes, better to have loved and lost then never loved at all. And this could be increasingly applicable for Anderson as Newcastle's desire for a Championship loan could develop into an even greater ambition in 2021/22, such is the standard of his play.
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