Just over a year ago Kobbie Mainoo stood on the Wembley pitch in his Manchester United suit trying to take it all in. He had made just three first-team appearances at this point and hadn't made the squad for the Carabao Cup final triumph against Newcastle, but in amongst the celebrations after the game Erik ten Hag sought him out for a chat.
It was a telling moment. This was a then 17-year-old midfielder only on the very fringes of the senior squad, but as Ten Hag revelled in winning a first trophy as United manager, he went over to the Stockport-born academy graduate and shared a few words. The Dutchman has been taken with Mainoo's quality since the first time he saw him and maybe in that snatched conversation he was telling him there would be more days like this to come.
Neither would have expected it to come this quickly. Mainoo's 24th senior appearance was for England against Brazil and it was the first time he had played at Wembley. It has been a meteoric rise this season.
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Gareth Southgate described Mainoo's 15-minute cameo against Brazil as a "chance to dip his toes", having been called into the squad earlier in the week with Jordan Henderson struggling with an injury picked up while playing for Ajax. But as we've come to expect with Mainoo, he dived in head first rather than dip his toe in.
His first major contribution came just four minutes after he had come on. He was being pushed back towards his own goal, carrying the ball back into his own half under pressure from Wolves midfielder and reported United summer transfer target, Joao Gomes. What happened next showed everyone inside Wembley and those watching at home that this was a teenager who was the real deal.
Mainoo had received a short pass from Declan Rice but took a series of quick touches with his right foot to position his body to turn away from Gomes, using both feet to nudge the ball forward and away from the Brazil midfielder. Mainoo now had space to drive into, facing the opposition goal.
It was a moment of class under pressure that regular watchers of United have become accustomed to. On several occasions at Old Trafford a week ago Mainoo caressed the ball away from Liverpool players. His quick feet in crowded spaces were particularly noticeable at Luton last month when he was the best United player when it came to keeping the ball and finding ways to dribble out of a tight situation or two. The moment at Wembley made an impression on Southgate, who referenced Mainoo's ability to spin his way out of tight situations after the game.
"To get Kobbie on the pitch was a brilliant moment for him and his family. You saw a couple of turns and a couple of really composed moments that is a bit of an indication of what he might become," he said.
If that was the highlight, then other moments showed the teenager's quality. He exchanged sharp passes with Rice on a few occasions, dropped deep to help his side out of a press and created an angle to drill a forward pass to Jarrod Bowen when in the centre of the pitch. It was the kind of debut that suggested there was more to come, just as Ten Hag sensed 13 months ago after the Carabao Cup final.
