For thousands of teenagers who go through the academy process to try and become a professional footballer, it's a well known fact that there are plenty of obstacles that can stop you from achieving your dream.
And for many height is perhaps the biggest barrier when it comes to whether you make it or not, but Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay is a prime example of why a club shouldn't release a player based on their size.
At the beginning of 2015, an 18-year-old McTominay was only 5ft 6ins.
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United's youth-team coaches had their doubts whether he would be able to make the grade at the top-level, but thankfully they kept the talented midfielder on their books.
At the end of 2015, McTominay went through a ridiculous growth spurt and now the 22-year-old stands at an impressive 6ft 4ins.
In an interview with Manchester United's official website, the youngster explained his incredible transformation in such a short space of time.
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"It's just more of the fact that my body was not ready at all. Warren and Paul McGuinness were really good with me at that time, nurturing me and putting me in and out of training sessions while not giving me so much game time." McTominay said.
"I'm at the height I am now and I want to keep going this season and get as much game time as I possibly can. I always knew I was going to be quite tall but maybe not that tall.
"I think when I was 13 or 14, if I was at another club who weren't as patient with me as I was smaller and not playing games, I think they might have thought: 'We'll just get rid of him'. I couldn't fault United when I was growing up and how they treated me. How it's panned out has obviously been really good."
McTominay's height was a key weapon for him in his excellent coming of age performance against Barcelona on Wednesday.
After scoring his first goal in a United shirt just over a week ago against Wolves, the Scotland international was superb in the Champions League quarter final first leg, breaking up pay and disrupting Barca's rhythm.
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He even allocated time to send Arturo Vidal back to Chile with a slick turn in the second half.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described his display as "composed" and his statistics from the game are very impressive indeed.
Jose Mourinho's 2017/18 Player of the Year award winner continues to improve...
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Manchester United, Lionel Messi, scott mctominay, Champions League
