Eddie Howe's record in the transfer market is best described as hit and miss, but the Bournemouth boss seems to have unearthed a gem in young attacker David Brooks.
After spending almost 10 years in Manchester City's academy, Brooks left the Citizens for Sheffield United's renowned youth set-up in 2014.
His technical prowess and elegance on the ball was never in question but he was made to work hard on his positional and defensive discipline, along with his ability to cope with the rough and tumble of professional football - a brief loan spell at Halifax proved to be a less than courteous introduction to a whole new ball game.
He made his senior Blades debut in 2016 and went on to help them achieve promotion to the Championship in 2017 before threatening to break into the play-off spots in England's second tier the following year.
The 21-year-old's exploits at Brammall Lane inevitably saw a number of Premier League clubs come calling, with Bournemouth eventually beating off reported interest from the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool to bring the Welshman to the south coast.
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The Cherries parted with around £11.5m to sign Brooks, a relatively paltry sum in the grand scheme of things but still a sizeable fee for a player with not one minute of top flight experience to his name.
You could have forgiven Howe for keeping his new acquisition out of the firing line during the embryonic stages of the season, with many managers opting to bed their recruits in gently, but the former Burnley boss wasted no time in giving the versatile attacker an opportunity to prove himself in the Premier League.
Brooks has started four of the Cherries' five league fixtures this season, during which they have won three and drawn one. He has been substituted in each of his appearances but has still managed to provide one key pass per game, while he has also executed two tackles per game - strong showings from a youngster tasked with playing in a position he is somewhat unfamiliar with.
“I’m so pleased when any player gets that number of opportunities – it means their positioning is very good and their intelligence levels very high," Howe said.
“He [Brooks] was very strong and that bodes well for the future. He’s still very young and new to the Premier League so he can be very satisfied with what he has delivered. He looked at home in the team.
“The only surprise for me would be how quickly he has adapted to the position because last season he played mostly as a number 10 for Sheffield United. We have changed his position. We have predominantly used him as a wide player and he has settled into that very well."
It remains to be seen if Howe sees fit to give Brooks a chance to strut his stuff in his favoured position - his side's current form doesn't suggest that a change in system is required - but the Premier League's longest-serving manager will hope there is much more to come from the burgeoning starlet, who is an integral part of Ryan Giggs' youthful, vibrant Wales team.