Wales manager Rob Page has tipped Brennan Johnson to become "a superstar" after the Nottingham Forest winger capped off a tremendous season by helping his country book a spot at the World Cup.
Wales beat Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday night, courtesy of an Andriy Yarmolenko own goal, in their World Cup play-off final, securing a spot at football's global showpiece event for the first time in 64 years. It is the third major tournament Wales will attend in six years, displaying a consistency at the highest level which has never been seen before.
Of course, these things tend to have a natural cycle. It is no coincidence this period of success has happened during a time when two of Wales' greatest-ever talents, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, have been at the peak of their powers. However, with the emergence of such talented young players now making a real impact and pushing for selection, there is hope this period of success can be sustained for a little while longer yet.
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Ethan Ampadu and Neco Williams, both just 21 but with more than 50 caps between them, are now established and important members of Page's Wales squad. Now, though, there is a new kid on the block trying to break his way into the fold in the form of fellow 21-year-old Johnson, who was a revelation at Forest last term.
Johnson was one of the standout players in the Championship, scoring 16 goals and providing nine assists, as he helped Steve Cooper's side lift themselves up off the bottom of the table after eight games to secure promotion, again via the play-offs, thanks to a final-day victory over Huddersfield Town.
And what a few weeks it has been for the gifted wide man, with Sunday's victory over Ukraine the icing on the cake of an extraordinary season of personal, domestic and now international triumph.
It was actually a surprise to some that Johnson, who was named the Championship's Young Player of the Season, was omitted from the starting XI on Sunday night, such has been his red-hot form at club level, however Page stuck with the tried and trusted Daniel James out on that left flank while Kieffer Moore was given the nod up front. Johnson did come on in the second half and made an impact, pinging one low shot firmly against the post after playing a key part in the build-up to Ramsey's gilt-edged chance, which squirmed just wide.
But with another six months to go until the World Cup, Johnson will be hopeful of starting the Premier League season well with Forest and forcing his way into the side for that opening game against the USA on November 21. Page himself admitted he had a serious selection dilemma on his hands in the build-up to the Ukraine game, but left no ambiguity over just how highly he thinks of young Johnson.
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"We're confident going into games now. We don't hope to qualify for the World Cup or Euros now, we believe we can do it, so there's been a massive change in the mentality as well," Page said after the match.
"I had a difficult decision tonight. I've got people like Harry Wilson and Brennan Johnson, who is going to be a superstar, isn't he? You've got people like him who didn't start tonight. But we had our best XI on the pitch.
"It's encouraging, it's good, we're going in the right direction. We need to continue to develop these young players that we have done for the last few years, and it's only going to get better for us."
