Manchester City found an incredible player in Bernardo Silva and it all started with a Champions League tie five seasons ago when the Blues faced Monaco.
Fast forward to today and City next face Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League round of 16 - a tie that will be of special significance to Bernardo and three of his City team-mates.
Sporting have a team full of young talent such as Goncalo Inacio, Matheus Nunes and Pedro Goncalves and watching them and others at close quarters might yet come in handy down the line.
On Facebook Live, City is Ours editor Dom Farrell was accompanied by writer and presenter Alex Brotherton to discuss how this could be the perfect opportunity for Manchester City to discover their 'next 'Bernardo Silva'.
DF: “Benfica are Sporting's city rivals in Lisbon. There is no love lost between the two clubs. City are sort of an outpost for Benfica fans with Ederson, Cancelo, Dias and Bernardo Silva.
“They all came through the ranks at Benfica. We saw recently that a couple of them went back to watch a Benfica game. It’s going to be a game they will enjoy and relish.
“We’re also going to see some exciting young talent on the Sportling side of the equation and City have looked at the Portuguese market. Maybe we’ll have the first sight of the next stars?
“It could be a little bit like when City played Monaco in 2017 and Bernardo Silva blew us all away.”
AB: “If there’s ever a game where Ruben Dias goes full inspirational post-match Instagram post, shirt off, captains armband - I think this is the one. Obviously, he and Ederson have experienced the Lisbon derby matches.
“I think they’re going to relish getting a crack at their old rivals. Bernardo and Cancelo never really played for the Benfica first team so this will be a first for them.
“They came through the ranks but sort of moved on before they broke into the first team. I’m sure they’ll be keen because, as far as I know, they both are Benfica fans.
"I think it was Benfica’s game against Braga recently where there’s a picture of Bernardo with a Benfica scarf around his neck. I’m sure he’ll be relishing the chance to get one over his team's rivals. As you say, Sporting have a number of young talents.
“It will be really interesting to see how they get on. I know last season their success was largely built on a young core of players. They’ve been in a bit of trouble, not only financially.
“A few years ago there was an instance of the clubs ultra’s invading the training ground, kicking off with the senior players they had. There were a lot of players - Bas Dost was one of them - who immediately asked to be sold because they wanted out of the whole situation and were pretty shook up by it.
"So, they had a summer where a lot of senior players had moved on. They were replaced by academy players or young lads from other clubs lower down the leagues in Portugal.
“But, they do have experience at the back. Their goalkeeper [Antonio Adan] is in his mid-30s. They've got a few 30-year-old defenders. But then the attack is a lot younger.
You just have to look at the likes of Nuno Mendes - the left-back that went to Paris Saint-Germain from Sporting. City were reportedly interested last summer but he ended up going to Paris. Certainly, in the first game [in this season's Champions League group stage] when City lost to PSG, he looked pretty impressive.
He’s kind of what can come out of the Sporting academy. They’ve got a lot of good young players.
"I guess it’s a bit of a cliche but I think young players can get extra riled up for these games and always have a point to prove. So, it will interesting to see how they handle being [the knockout stages of] this competition for the first time.”
