Jetro Willems was once being eyed by the cream of European clubs after illuminating the big stage with PSV Eindhoven.
After becoming the youngest player to play at the Euros in 2012 at 18 he was linked with Manchester City, Manchester United, AS Roma and AC Milan to name but a few.
At one stage PSV were even forced to issue a public denial that he was on his way to Old Trafford, but he stayed with the Dutch giants up until 2017, winning two Eredivisie titles and one cup winners medal along the way.
For all the hype, the move that Willems eventually did land was a transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and while he helped himself to another cup winners medal in the German DFB-Pokal with a shock win over Bayern Munich, he continued to strive to play on the Premier League stage.
It may not be at the Etihad Stadium or Old Trafford, but Willems is content with life at the moment.
Newcastle have an option to buy Willems at the end of the season and the left-sided player admits he is happy with the way things have worked out.
He is starting to show glimpses of the player that captured the imagination of scouts from far and wide at the start of his career, not least with that blockbusting goal against Liverpool at Anfield that even had Jurgen Klopp watching on in admiration.
But when asked about the approaches from big clubs earlier in his career, Willems' words will strike a chord with fans.
He told ChronicleLive: "I had many other offers to play here (the Premier League) before. But they are not relevant now.
"I am with Newcastle now - and I want to my best here, that's it. I want to show the people here what I am capable of.
"We are doing quite well now after a couple of wins so long may that continue."
Willems feels that he isn't the only talented star on the books at Benton at the moment with Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron all starting to find themselves within touching distance of some good form.
The Dutchman said: "It's a great opportunity for me. I am playing with great players now, I'm not the only one.
"I am not the only one here."
Willems starred in the 2-1 win against AFC Bournemouth before the international break and is now poised to continue in the starting XI against Aston VIlla.
Looking back on recent times, he said: "It was a good win for us - and we needed it.
"We were looking a bit confused as a team not too long ago. In previous games, we looked tired but now are looking quite safe.
"We've had a break and we rested well. We won our last match well against AFC Bournemouth and have two wins out of two so it's looking good.
"We showed we could fight as we came back from behind. Not just in the second half of that game, the first half too."
United's goals have mainly came from defenders so far this season with Willems joining Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez and DeAndre Yedlin up there in the leading goalscorers chart.
Willems joked that the forwards must now start chipping in with goals to help chill out the back five.
He said: "We are creating chances in games, one-on-one chances. We should really be scoring more.
"We need to make our defenders feel more relaxed in games. In the last minute Bournemouth had a chance with a header and it went just wide. So we need to make sure.
"Our defenders are weighing in with goals - that is a good sign. Ciaran is our top scorer now. So it was strange in the last game or two.
"For us, the most important thing is to win games. If we win it with defenders scoring goals it's OK. It's nice in some ways."
