Amad Diallo's performance in the Manchester derby was a message to Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim that he cannot be left out of his starting XI.
That was the view of BBC Sport pundit and former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy, who hailed Amad's superb performance at the Etihad Stadium.
United came from behind to secure a 2-1 win at the home of their cross-city rivals, as Amad won a penalty which Bruno Fernandes converted to equalise, before scoring a dramatic winning goal in stoppage time to secure the three points.
READ MORE: Ruben Amorim secured his two biggest victories with Manchester United at City
READ MORE: 'There will be no space for you' - The mentality in Manchester United's dressing room is changing
The Amad-inspired turnaround has now lifted United within six points of the top four and helped to stretch City's sorry run of form to one win in their last 11 matches.
Amorim has tinkered with his squad across his seven games in charge but we are slowly starting to see signs of who he considers to be his strongest XI.
And Amad appears to fit that bill and Murphy feels his contribution in the win over City was a message to his manager and team-mates that he has cemented that status.
"He was outstanding," Murphy said on BBC's Match of the Day 2.
"Talk about a player trying to impress a new manager and showing he was right to select him. He was positive, wanted to get on the ball and the beauty of playing in this system is that he doesn't get stuck on the wing, he can come more central.
"What he is saying to the manager is that you can't leave him out and he has turned that game on its head. I think that role suits him best because he is going to get in goalscoring positions and he is in the first XI."