If you were asked to select the European player of the season so far, few very obvious names would immediately come to mind. Jude Bellingham, certainly. Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Lautaro Martinez perhaps too.
It's only natural to gravitate towards these types of names. As much as the internet has drastically reduced the mystery of football across the continent, if you are not religiously following the action away from the Premier League, it's easy for certain players' performances to slip through the cracks.
For instance, did you realise that Europe's top scorer is not Haaland, Kane or Kylian Mbappe - but a journeyman striker currently at Stuttgart? And have you been keeping track of Manchester City's next prospect, who's currently tearing it up in La Liga?
Below, GOAL has collated a list of players like this, who's flying starts might have passed you by so far this season...