When it comes to confidence, Manchester City's 18-goal winger Carlos Borges isn't short of any. Nor is he lacking in ambition, with a domestic and European double in his sights.
Borges has an impressive 23 goals and 14 assists from just 25 appearances this season and leads the way in the academy scoring charts - with only Erling Haaland scoring more for the club this season across men's, women's and academy teams, and Borges is level with Haaland when it comes to total goal contributions. His electric pace and tendency to score hat-tricks in big games have seen fans call for the Portuguese to be given a shot with the first team.
For now, though, all Borges is thinking about is emulating the previous academy groups that have gone before him - and then going one better to bring home a trophy City have never won before.
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"We still have to achieve the league. We want to win the league. We also want to win the Youth League. A lot of stuff to compete for," he told MEN Sport.
"I'm definitely excited for the Youth League. The Youth League has been my target from the start of the season. I really want to do well, hopefully we can win it. I'm definitely looking forward to it. The club's never won it, it's really important for a club like us to win it or get to the final. Let's hope we can do it."
City begin their Youth League knockout campaign this week at Hajduk Split, before a potential quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain or Borussia Dortmund if they get through. The Blues have struggled in the academy equivalent to the Champions League in the past, but Borges is keen to do things at City that have never been done before.
When that idea was put to him, he replied: "100 per cent. Everyone wants to do it. Who doesn't want to win the Youth League? We're all buzzing, but our eyes are on Everton at the weekend [in the Premier League 2] and next week is the Youth League, but we're ready.
"Being in a title race is definitely good, it keeps you on your toes and you can't slip up. The mentality that all the players have is to think about the next game and that's how it's got to be."
Borges has struck up an encouraging partnership with fellow winger Dire Mebude, who has nine goals and eight assists this season - a bond he puts down to a strong relationship with Mebude away from the pitch.
He explained: "We get along, on the pitch and off the pitch we have a good chemistry. We understand each other's game. I put it down to that. When you get in them tight spaces, you look for options or go yourself. He seems to pick me out a lot. It means a bit more, you want to keep enjoying the moment as much as you can."
Coach Brian Barry-Murphy heaped praise on the pair, but challenged them both to keep improving.
"They're doing very well, I hope they'll be the first to tell you they can do a lot more," he said. "They probably have got a lot of attention because of their exploits in European competition. Again that brings with it its own sense of expectation and pressure, for each of them to prepare the aspects of the performance that they can by preparing and training exceptionally well every day and having a real appetite to review all aspects of the game.
"Probably not just the parts everybody sees on a matchday, there are real significant areas of their game that need improvement and as long as they're invested in that they'll be fine.
"For the players at this club who play in those positions of seven and 11, there's a clear profile we've seen along the years. The expectation is they create and score goals which is in the makeup of the players themselves. The part we have to really focus on is how aligned they are with the team and how they can work on the parts of their game which need most development. A lot of these young players cases it can be understanding the defensive side of the game and being really collective as the team."
In fairness to Borges, he mentioned improvement within seconds of assessing his own season, which has carried plenty of highs from a four-goal return in a huge 6-1 win at Manchester United, to an eye-catching hat-trick against Derby County's first team in the EFL Trophy.
"The derby was the best moment of the season so far," he said. "A very good day. We were ready, knew it was a big game, a derby. We wanted to do our best, get three points and we did well. It's hard not to get carried away because you've won the derby, but you've just got to think about the next one and there's a long way to go throughout the season. Keep going, but it was a good feeling.
"Derby [County] was one of my best performances of the season so far. I loved it, the lads were brilliant. From the start I knew we were going to win because we were playing so well. That's where you want to be, it's the next step, it's good for development."
Borges credits Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden with keeping track of his performances and giving him advice when he steps up to first-team training under Pep Guardiola, vowing to learn every time he gets the call-up. A first-team debut, he says, would be what he has worked for his whole life, and seeing players like Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer and Foden make the pathway to the senior squad works as extra motivation.
If he was to get that call, though, what kind of player could City expect? A Raheem Sterling-type winger, or maybe someone more like Leroy Sane or Foden or Mahrez?
"I watch Sadio Mane, he's a top winger, a top player," Borges replies. "I look up to him. He's speedy, direct. He dosen't do too much, he likes one-twos and when he needs to go he goes.
"My job is to try and help the team out. I do that when I can. [A first-team call-up] would mean a lot, I've been working for this basically my whole life. It's not easy at this club but I've got to keep working and putting in the work. If we get the opportunity we have to take it."
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