Phil Foden's rise can almost be charted by his appearances in the League Cup.
With his 21st birthday still a month away, the Manchester City star could collect his fourth winners' medal on Sunday with a victory over Tottenham.
It's a competition that he has group up in.
He's gone from a 17-year-old boy watching a victory away to West Brom from the bench, hoping to get a couple of minutes on the pitch, to a superstar that might actually be rested for a Wembley final with more important fixtures on the horizon.
Back in December 2017, Foden made his meaningful start for his boyhood club in the quarter-final victory at Leicester City.
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A week after his first ever start in the dead rubber Champions League game away to Shakhtar Donetsk, the teenager played 90 minutes alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Yaya Toure in the heart of midfield.
Fast forward two months and the youngster made his first appearance in a senior final and won his first medal as a late substitute in the 3-0 victory over Arsenal.
The following season's competition brought another landmark: his first goal for the club in the 3-0 third-round victory away to Oxford United.
After setting up Riyad Mahrez, he drove in an injury-time strike from the edge of the box as people really started to take notice of his huge potential.
"His feet are to die for. His ability and his orientation of himself on the pitch is genius," Oxford boss Karl Robinson gushed.
"There is a naturalness to his game and something we have not seen for a long time. It reminded me of watching Barcelona and seeing (Andres) Iniesta in those positions."
It was in last season's Carabao Cup final that Foden was deemed to have proven himself a truly special talent with a man of the match-winning display against Aston Villa.
He was simply sensational playing as an inverted right winger, setting up the opening goal for Sergio Aguero and tormenting Villa's defence throughout.
“At times, it was like he was from a different planet,” Villa boss Dean Smith said.
Now, comes a fourth successive League Cup final, and another significant milestone in his young career.
With a huge Champions League semi-final against Paris St-Germain to play next week, Pep Guardiola will be giving serious consideration to leaving Foden out for his starting line-up against Spurs.
Indeed, the City boss has conceded that Europe and the Premier League are his priorities right now.
"We have a mix of contradictions," he told reporters. "It’s a final we have to win but we have one eye on the Champions League and one eye on Crystal Palace [in the Premier League].
"The Carabao Cup is nice – we want four, we will play to win the fourth – but PSG and Palace are there."
Foden's importance has been underlined by the way he dragged City to a crucial three points in their midweek league victory over Villa, with Guardiola describing him as a "serious player" because of the way in which he led he inspired his team's revival after falling a goal behind.
Not only did he score the equaliser and draw two yellow cards from Matt Cash to make it 10 v 10 after John Stones' red card, his influence and maturity on the pitch was vital, as City closed out the game.
A defeat could have opened the door for Manchester United to cut their lead at the top of the Premier League to just five points, and a stroll to a third title in four seasons would suddenly have become far more difficult.
Foden was as important as anyone in ensuring that didn't happen. And it's a sign of his growing influence that the brilliant performance in last season's League Cup final is now being replicated almost every week.
“He played more minutes and when you play more minutes, you are a better player," Guardiola said. "He was a boy when I arrived, training every day with these guys, and now he plays important minutes.
"He is stronger physically. He can get stronger. He plays more minutes, knows the game better and can play more positions. He is a better player but he can still be better.”
Without Foden's energy, City looked flat in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea last weekend, as their quadruple quest came to an end.
A positive diagnosis on the injury scare to Kevin De Bruyne does take some of the pressure off Guardiola's rotation, with the Belgium midfielder already back in training, and Foden will be desperate to play in a final.
But then again, he's also desperate to play in anything from training ground rondos upwards.
Guardiola has a big call to make but it would be no surprise if he decides that Foden has already outgrown a competition which played a pivotal role in his development.