Every transfer window has a headline signing, and Birmingham City's will be no different when the drawbridge is finally raised.
It will most likely be Jadon Sancho at Manchester United, while a kid the former Borussia Dortmund winger has pushed lower down the pecking order at Old Trafford could turn out to be Blues '.
Ryan Woods will almost certainly disagree, but there's a good possibility that the eye-catching loan transaction that sent Tahith Chong down the M6 to St Andrew's will be the one that gives Lee Bowyer's squad a little stardust.
When the club's decision-makers were able to persuade United and Chong to turn down lucrative offers in the Netherlands in order to join up for a grueling season in the Championship, there was clearly a lot of excitement among the club's decision-makers.
After a difficult season in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen and then the Jupiler Pro League with Club Brugge, the 21-year-old has chosen a different kind of challenge – one that could see him play 50 or more games on a variety of surfaces with referees who are more lenient with physical contact than their top-flight counterparts.
United supporters may tell you that his prospects of establishing himself at Old Trafford are dwindling, but if the evidence of a single training session is any indication – and it may not be – Blues fans may be perfectly content with that.
Chong was among the players that took part in an open training session at Wast Hills on Tuesday, and among all the players on display, new and old, the beautifully coifured winger stood out — and not just because of his hirsuteness.
While Chong's new teammates chopped and charged up and down the field in the first relays, the long-legged, 6ft 1ins attacker glided, chewing up ground with silky athleticism.
It reminded me of seeing Demarai Gray move: effortless, flowing, and with plenty of time and control. The elders nodded, 'That's why he's at a Premier League club.'
The Blues spent the next two hours doing shooting drills, two-touch possession exercises, and three-on-two counterattacks, and the Dutchman's talent was on display.
In general, he hit the target, kept possession of the ball, and timed his passes to perfection. It wasn't perfect; no session ever is, but there were a couple of standout moments.
The first move was a spectacular scissor kick. Chong leaped over a metre parallel to the ground as the ball floated in deep from the left wing-back and blasted a fizzing volley into the net.
Other others scored, and they were all good goals, but if Goal of the Training Session was a thing, it was decided right there and then.
Following that, Bowyer led a practice in which two teams were split into two sides of a small pitch and given the task of keeping the ball long enough to pass it to their teammates in the attacking half.
Chong did well, but so did Woods and Jeremie Bela, and as he came short for a pass, he gave it the tiniest touch of a back heel, practically a dummy, and the ball slid safely on to its receiver, leaving his opponent flat-footed.
In three-on-two situations, his pass timing was impeccable, drawing two defenders before finding Jonathan Leko enough room to fire home. See the video above for more information.
It's only one training session, and Chong has yet to be put to the test in a live Championship match, so there's a good chance this is all going too far.
But, with a reference to all the Jeremie Boga and Fran Villalba-esque talent who has found the English second division too challenging, let us allow ourselves some giddy excitement ahead of the cold Tuesday nights in Stoke.
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