In a season which has seen Leeds entertain and frustrate in equal measure, few players could personified the duality of this Leeds United side better than Helder Costa.
At the beginning of the campaign, the £15 million man thrilled as it was suggested he had adapted well to Premier League life following good performances against Fulham and Sheffield United.
What followed, most would not have anticipated, including those within the recruitment department at the club. Stade Rennais' Raphinha suddenly became available for a reasonable fee, and Leeds acted.
Let's be clear, Leeds did not explicitly need Raphinha, but it supplemented their wide options considerably.
Costa's place in the team was under threat, theoretically, but after his half-time substitution in the 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in November, that threat became material.
Since Raphinha's first start against Arsenal weeks later, Helder Costa has played 55 minutes of Premier League football.
In the FA Cup, Costa was afforded a rare start on a day which will no doubt go down as a one-off for the whole team, although he hardly impressed against a resilient Crawley Town, when ideally more would have been expected.
While it is true Raphinha looks the player with the higher ceiling, Costa is by no means a poor footballer.
Calls for him to be dropped in place of one of the under-23 players is equally a non-starter.
The gap between U23 football and the senior team is often vastly understated.
Most players in this year's iteration of the Premier League 2 will fail to reach five Premier League appearances in their entire career. To suggest that because Leeds' young guns are performing well against players of similar age, stature and at the same point in their development curve, does not mean they would be prepared for the speed and rigours of the top level.
This season, Sam Greenwood has been excellent with the U23s, despite being just 18 years-old - he has looked dominant, commanding and decisive. The same can be said of Charlie Cresswell, a towering centre-back with leadership potential.
In the EFL Trophy outing against Blackpool earlier this season, Greenwood unfortunately looked rather lost at sea, while Cresswell faltered up against League One striker Malik Wilks at the start of the campaign in the Carabao Cup defeat to Hull City.
There are a multitude of development checkpoints each U23s player must tick off before being deemed good enough for a place on the first-team's bench, never mind replacing a £15 million international footballer.
Besides, if those 55 minutes Costa has featured in since Raphinha's full debut had been given to one of the youngsters, it's highly likely they would have had even less of an impact because it is simply not enough time on a football pitch to draw meaningful conclusions from.
There is persistent temptation to reward the club's best youth prospects, but there is little use in promoting a prodigious teenager before there are minutes for them to fill. Ian Poveda arrived at Thorp Arch as an England youth international with experience at numerous top academies and involvement with Manchester City's first-team.
Only after a year of arduous work at Leeds United is Poveda close to threatening Costa's status as Marcelo Bielsa's third-choice winger.
One hat-trick from Crysencio Summerville, or a half-season of good form from Greenwood or Joe Gelhardt is not enough to convince one of the game's elder statesmen in Bielsa, that they are ready to challenge a 27-year-old Costa who has years of experience at the top level.
