It's been a difficult few months for Axel Tuanzebe.
The Manchester United loanee's impressive spell at Aston Villa was hampered in December when a training ground injury delayed his progress and left him sidelined for months.
In fact Tuanzebe's last match in English football was the day before Jose Mourinho's, a 2-2 draw the same weekend United fell to an emphatic defeat against Liverpool at Anfield. Yet despite suffering such an extensive lay-off his loan spell in the West Midlands has still been a massive positive on his fledgling career.
Tuanzebe is already in his second spell at the Championship club and could well be loaned out to the second division again next year, but that doesn't rule out any hope of a successful future at Old Trafford.
The 21-year-old is still highly regarded by staff members at the club and was one such player who benefited from senior absentees during last summer's pre-season tour of the United States.
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Even with such a changed set-up Tuanzebe showcased his fine leadership talents during the tour, but a lack of playing opportunity in the first-team saw him become the latest victim of United's extensive defensive options.
Many supporters would argue Tuanzebe already has a brighter future at the club than the likes of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones, and the fact he has not been sold might just back that case.
Eyebrows were raised when Ro-Shaun Williams exited the club in January despite an impressive half-season with the Academy side, he too held back by a congested pathway into the first-team. Instead, it speaks volumes that Tuanzebe is still contracted to the club, but with only a year left on his current deal he is running out of time to justify the hype.
"You can play 90 minutes or 1 minute. Sometimes 1 minute is enough. With Axel, ten minutes is enough! The potential is there, you see it immediately," Mourinho said after the youngster featured in his first game in charge of the club against Wigan in 2016.
"You know him better than me because you know him for a few years but if anyone sees him for the first time, ten minutes is enough to see the potential."
Tuanzebe has yet to play a minute of football since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned to the club, but he no doubt will have seen the youngster when on his recent visits to Carrington as he continued his injury rehabilitation process.
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The 21-year-old is set to return for Aston Villa this weekend and will be looking to make his way into Dean Smith's first-team plans ahead of a pivotal promotion run in.
Not only can the next few weeks decide Villa's immediate future, but it could also have a huge say in Tuanzebe's too.
Injury has given the England youth international an excuse for a brief plateau in an exciting talent, and now he must prove he is good enough to make it at United and even potentially be a first-team centre-back for years to come.
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