When Manchester United's Under-21s played Monaco in November, a French journalist in the press box recommended keeping an eye on 17-year-old Eliesse Ben Seghir, who had built a reputation as a supremely exciting prospect in his country.
Ben Seghir was kept quiet under the floodlights at Old Trafford, but a few weeks later, he scored a stunning brace on his Ligue 1 debut for Monaco's first-team and showed the beauty of attending such academy fixtures: gems can be unearthed.
On Friday night, a new generation of youngsters, Jack Kingdon, Elyh Harrison, Louis Jackson and Ethan Williams, were chosen to make the next step in their careers, as they were given their full debuts for United's U21s in the Premier League 2 against Arsenal.
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As a result of the fixture coming after the international break, injuries in the first-team and Casemiro's suspension, Mark Dempsey was without key players and picked a youthful side to play Arsenal, who fielded a strong team for their visit to Old Trafford.
Kobbie Mainoo and Zidane Iqbal, who regularly provide quality, composure and verve in the midfield for the U21s, were absent from the squad, as they're set to be with the first-team against Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday.
Academy coach Travis Binnion spoke of the importance of 'soaking up the occasion' for the youngsters ahead of the Arsenal game and the smiles on the players who were playing at Old Trafford for the first time were visible from the stands.
Harrison only recently signed his first professional contract and yet he confidently approached the start of the contest between the sticks. He made two early saves from Arsenal forward Khayon Edwards and he looked to be revelling in the occasion.
Kingdon was also enjoying himself in defence. He captained Scotland's U18s against Wales last weekend and he looked comfortable playing at right-back - because of his acceleration and pace - despite naturally being a central defender.
However, football can be a cruel game and, after making a superb start, Harrison mistimed his clearance at the back, which the proactive Edwards immediately took advantage of by sweeping the ball home into an empty net.
At 17 years old, you'd be forgiven for sulking after such an unfortunate error but Harrison did not. He made an outstanding save just moments after conceding, to prevent another goal, and that proved to be a pivotal moment.
Minutes later, Daniel Gore, who captained the side, drove forward in midfield and played a lofted through ball to Mateo Mejia, who expertly latched onto the pass before volleying into the bottom left corner.
Mejia's finish was excellent and he danced in the corner to celebrate. The pocket of supporters in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, who seemed mostly of school age, roared and Dempsey applauded in approval.
Playing alongside Mainoo, Gore excelled in the successful FA Youth Cup campaign last year and he began to dictate the game with his dynamic range of passing, which Noam Emeran and Williams were benefitting from on the wing.
Gore, 18, has played in multiple different positions in midfield but he's seen to best effect as a No.10. His low centre of gravity and composure are almost reminiscent of Bruno Fernandes and he's someone for the youngster to look up to.
At half-time, the game was all square and Dempsey decided to make two changes, with the talented Isak Hansen-Aaroen and Marc Jurado, who represented Norway and Spain respectively during the break, coming on.
Jurado went to right-back, which meant Kingdon relocated to his natural position of centre-back, next to Willy Kambwala. The latter also caught the eye throughout for his defensive work and a more prominent role for him in the U21s seems inevitable.
Despite the influence and best efforts of Hansen-Aaroen, who slotted into the midfield and regularly looked to progress the ball into the final third, the game gradually lost tempo and a draw became the most likely outcome.
United were defeated 6-0 against Man City two weeks ago and a response to that was needed. Considering such a youthful side was fielded from the start, Dempsey will have been happy with the performance. There were also promising glimpses of talent for the future, something the club is built around.
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