Max Watters hammered home his fifth goal in four games for MK Dons on Saturday afternoon.
After a sluggish start to the season following a frustrating injury sustained during a pre-season clash with Tottenham, the Cardiff City forward is now showing just why the Bluebirds forked out up to £1million for his signature back in January.
Watters shot into the consciousness of English Football League followers last term with an attention-grabbing start to the season in front of goal for Crawley Town.
He blasted in 16 goals in 19 games and was one of the hottest properties in England at the time. After a lot of competition, Cardiff managed to swoop and land the player's signature, which was something of a coup.
But after Mick McCarthy's arrival, Watters, 22, was suddenly consigned to playing a bit-part, struggling to break into the first team while still scoring regularly at under-23 level.
A loan move away seemed the perfect move for him at the start of the season and that decision is now bearing fruit.
During MK Dons' dominant 4-1 win over Cambridge United on Saturday, Watters displayed his prowess in front of goal with two confidently-taken finishes. They were his fourth and fifth goals over the last four games.
That means, if you were to take his three Cardiff appearances out of the equation, he has 22 goals in 30 senior games for Crawley and MK Dons, either side of his six months with the Bluebirds.
Watters' team-mate at MK Dons, Scott Twine, who also bagged a brace on Saturday, spoke of his growing relationship with the Bluebirds loanee after the win over Cambridge on Saturday.
“We want to be a team that plays multiple ways and scores different goals," Twine said.
"I know Max is rapid so I’ve got to sprint as fast as I can to get up with him in the box. If he keeps making those runs, I’ll get more goals inside the box.
“And he makes my life so easy when he makes runs in behind like he does, and his finishing is unbelievable too.”
While EFL pundit George Elek said on Quest's EFL highlights show: "This is five from four now for Watters in all competitions and this is the best we saw of him at Crawley last season.
"A proper goalscorer, a ruthless finisher and somebody who, if he comes to the boil, the amount of attacking options MK Dons have will be so impressive."
Watch below: Watters' brace against Cambridge
Contrast the free-scoring MK Dons with goal-shy Cardiff City at the minute and Steve Morison might just be facing his first big conundrum as permanent manager.
The January transfer window will be upon us before we know it and Watters is banging on the door increasingly loudly.
Morison has hinted in recent weeks that there might just be a lack of options up front beyond Kieffer Moore, leading many to think that acquiring another striker might be high on the agenda in the new year.
James Collins has struggled after being signed in the summer, while Isaac Vassell's injury hell seemingly has no end in sight. There are young, unproven forwards in Isaak Davies and Chanka Zimba, but Watters is going out and proving he can do it week in, week out at senior level at the minute and that is enough to pose a question to City's management.
Morison said earlier this month : "Where you have an issue is, when you look beyond them in the forward areas, for example, your only other change is Mark Harris going up top. And you forget he’s really young as well.
"In the forward areas you look and say Isaak Davies has done well, Chanka Zimba has done well, but there is that step. It has to be the right time. In a team that’s not winning you might not see the best of them if you bring them in.
"If you get to that point in January you will be bringing in players, hopefully, who can supplement what you want to do, rather than just bring anybody in."
Following Morison's appointment, he made a louder hint at potentially planning to recall one or two of his out-on-loan players.
"We head into the January transfer window where hopefully we can improve our squad slightly, whether that's bringing people back or getting new people in, whoever that might be," he said.
"If we see a real upturn in performances, and everyone is flying and doing really well, it might be a case where now the style of play has changed and how we want to work has changed and maybe we don't need to start looking."
The trouble is, as everyone knows, money is thin on the ground and the chances of bringing in a costly striker in January are slim to none.
Fortunately, Watters is already a player on the books and presents a viable option should Morison want to bolster his striker stable, which looks sorely needed as things stand.
What mustn't happen, it must be stressed, is for Watters to be brought back to Cardiff in January and be sat twiddling his thumbs on the bench. He must either form a key part of Cardiff's forward line in the back end of the season or stay at MK Dons, where he can continue scoring goals and continue building that confidence ahead of next season.
Either way, Watters is looking more exciting with each passing game for the Dons and that is a real cause for optimism for Cardiff City fans.
Whether he has a part to play this season for the Bluebirds is becoming a pressing question as time ticks towards the opening of the January window.
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