Newcastle United fans will be clinging onto Nick Woltemade's electric start in England as one major positive so far this season.
Indeed, despite the Magpies only picking up two Premier League wins to date, the lofty and instinctive German has already powered home four goals in the demanding league from just five outings.
Nick Woltemade scores for Newcastle-1
Still, while the ex-Stuttgart striker has already proven why he cost a significant £69m to bring to Tyneside this summer, Anthony Elanga, on the other hand, is in danger of looking like a major waste of money so soon into his Toon career.
Elanga's poor start at Newcastle
Woltemade ultimately stole the limelight right at the death of the transfer window when leaving Germany behind for that bumper amount.
However, there was equal excitement in the air when Elanga put pen to paper on a £55m switch to leave the Tricky Trees behind for St James' Park, having been branded a "frightening" talent in the past by the Athletic's Laurie Whitwell.
Anthony Elanga 2024-25 stats (timeless)
With six goals and 12 assists under his belt for Forest last season, too, it did seem as if this was going to be a sublime bit of business from the get-go. Unfortunately, his time so far under Howe's wing hasn't gone to the pre-planned script.
From eight Premier League games to date this campaign, the Swedish attacker has zero goals or assists to shout about, touching the ball just 24.4 times per game across those largely forgettable league showings in black and white.
Long gone now are the days when the "electric" winger - as he was once labelled by statistician Statman Dave - was bursting forward with pace and scaring the lives out of Premier League defenders, with just 20 touches of the ball and one feeble attempted dribble against Brighton, leaving Howe with no choice but to hook Elanga at the half-time interval.
He won't be completely written off, with the 23-year-old perhaps just needing more time to gel and acclimatise, before finding his mojo again.
Anthony-Elanga
But, Howe could now be looking for some left-field options on the right wing to add some depth - away from solely relying on the trusty back-up option of Jacob Murphy.
Howe's surprise Elanga replacement
Howe hasn't shied away from gifting rising youngsters chances to impress in his senior side since taking on the Newcastle reins in 2021, with Lewis Miley only 17 years of age when he was chucked into the Premier League deep-end on his debut.
William Osula has also been handed the odd chance here and there in attack, with U21s superstar Alfie Harrison no doubt eager to leave a lasting impression too when a first-team opportunity heads his way, having once been branded a "star in the making" by football writer Thomas Hammond when first signing for the Magpies.
Coincidentally, Harrison - much like Elanga - opted to walk away from Manchester to try and kickstart his career, with the 23-year-old also well aware of how tricky it is to make that step-up from youth football to the demands of the men's game.
Still, with 14 goals and eight assists under his belt for the Man City U18s, it was clear that the Toon had bagged themselves a gem going after Harrison when they did.
The goals have somewhat dried up in the U21 frame at Newcastle, with zero goals in Premier League 2 action for the teenager this season to date.
Harrison's numbers by season
Season
25/26
24/25
23/24
Sourced by Transfermarkt
But, it's clear when assessing his numbers above that he has a laser focus on picking up assists after bursting forward with pace from down the right wing, or in a more central spot on the pitch, which are two trademark parts of Elanga's game when he's at the peak of his powers.
Woltemade will surely already be dreaming of lining up next to such an assist-heavy presence, with the German very rarely needing a second bite of the cherry to score.
Alfie Harrison
Further lauded as an "electric" talent this summer by Magpie Media, it only feels like a matter of time before Harrison is making waves in the senior scene, with Howe perhaps ready to test him out imminently if Elanga continues to falter.