This time last year Wily Kambwala seemed destined for a bright future at Manchester United.
He had broken into the first team picture, albeit helped by a lengthy injury list, and ended the 2023-24 campaign with an FA Cup medal round his neck at Wembley. Within eight weeks he'd been sold.
Kambwala joined La Liga side Villarreal last summer in a €11.5million deal which included a €5.5m up front. United inserted a buy-back option and a sell-on clause into the deal, hinting at the player's potential.
And the youngster, who suffered an injury hit start to life in Spain, is starting to realise that with the Yellow Submarines as they close in on Champions League football.
Kambwala didn't make his first La Liga start until December - and was promptly sent off after 32 minutes - but since the turn of the year he has become a regular fixture in the squad and side. Fourteen of his 16 league appearances have come since mid January and he's played a part in a revival that has seen Villarreal lose just three of their last 16 games and move into the top five.
Fifth spot will secure Champions League football and with three games to go, Kambwala and Co are in the driving seat. They have a three point buffer to Real Betis in sixth and have already secured at least Europa League football.
For Kambwala it is a redemption story for a player who wasn't keen to leave United.
Willy Kambwala with the FA Cup after Manchester United's win over Manchester City last season
“I’m happy now and when I arrived. Coming here is the best decision for me and for my career, and to progress in football," he said, speaking in March. "I want to keep training, playing, doing well and I’m very happy here.
"In the Premier League it’s much more direct, more one-on-one, there are more duels, for example. Here it is more important to play as a team, there is more ball, you have to defend all together or defend the space. And since I arrived, I’ve been willing to learn.”
Kambwala is in line to feature against Barcelona this weekend as his development continues. His departure last summer from Old Trafford was something of a surprise.
He joined in October 2020 as a 16-year-old from Sochaux for a €4million fee. He suffered an injury hit start to life in England that saw him make fewer than 30 appearances in total for the Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s in his first three seasons in the academy.
He got his chance in the first team last season and ended it something of a fixture in matchday squads - appearing in the final four of the campaign including that memorable cup final win over City.
His departure saw United bank pure profit under the PSR rules the club has to be mindful of but the irony of his exit and subsequent rise in La Liga will not have been lost on Ruben Amorim.
The United arrived four months after Kambwala's departure but the Frenchman's profile, age and potential all mark him out as the type of player Amorim and the Reds hierarchy would be looking to sign.
He was one of the most talked about teenagers in European football when he arrived at Old Trafford and United's successful pursuit of Ayden Heaven and Chido Obi in recent months, plus the willingness of Amorim to use them in the first team, suggests Kambwala may have been handed chances had he stayed in Manchester.
Victor Lindelof, who will be let go in the summer, has been pressed into a prominent role in recent weeks. It's not a stretch to suggest Kambwala could have filled that role given his performances against the likes of Liverpool last term.
Instead, while United focus on the Europa League to the detriment of their league form, Kambwala is at the top end of a table and, like United, dreaming of the Champions League.
But while Amorim's men might sneak in through the back door, Kambwala and Villarreal hope to be front and centre.