Renato Sanches has had a difficult few years but the midfielder showed his undoubted skill on Friday night during Lille's win over Montpellier, even scoring the winning goal.
Before Euro 2016 Sanches was being chased by many big clubs in Europe, before signing for Bayern Munich from Benfica. His form at that summer's tournament raised expectations but the next few years were tough for the Portuguese midfielder.
Now though he looks to be shining for Lille, where he moved to in the summer, and on Friday night he showed off all his skills in the win against Montpellier.
The 22-year-old started the season at Bayern and came on as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin in August but soon moved to Ligue 1 for a €25 million fee, the biggest in Lille's history.
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He's played nine games in the league so far this season for his new club and on Friday night bagged his first goal, cutting in from the left and banging the ball past the reach of the keeper, to earn his team all three points.
Speaking to La Voix du Nord on Friday, via Get French Football News, about the players start to life with the club, Lille sporting director Luis Campos explained Sanches' tough start, saying, "To improve, a player needs to respect three things that often move at different speeds: adaptation, maturity and opportunity. Renato received enormous support from everyone at this club. We repeated to him of the need to be patient because he has a 5-year contract with us.
"We need a high-performing Renato but on the condition that this lasts. He had a lot of stress and anxiety with this transfer and he has paid for that. Christophe (Galtier) has shown his skill in dealing with this situation and from the moment when the player is listening, it is easier.
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"We are going to help him to adapt and to respect the three things I talked about. In my opinion, Renato is currently playing at 40% of his potential."
The win means Lille, who came second to PSG in France last season, will remain in third this weekend no matter the other results and are within three points of second placed Marseille.
They'll be hoping their upward trajectory and Sanches' continues.
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