Jean-Clair Todibo has enjoyed the kind of start to his career that the majority of footballers can only dream about.
Only this season did the 19-year-old make his debut in the top flight for Toulouse, yet already he has ended up joining Barcelona having played just 10 games for the French side.
He secured a move to Barca after a deal was struck between the clubs on deadline day in January, having initially agreed to join the Spanish giants at the end of the season at the expiration of his contract.
Yet, the defender's rapid rise to one of football's elite clubs may have forever been confined to a pipe dream after his career was nearly robbed from him following a car accident in Paris at the age of nine.
'I was leaving my house to go to judo, I crossed the road and a car knocked me down. It turned into a big accident,' he told La Depeche.
'I had an injury on both my leg bones and down to the ankle, and there were several fractures. I have still got the scars.'
It would be a year before he returned to football, starring for his youth side Les Lilas, before being picked up by Toulouse scouts at the age of 16 to begin his rapid rise up the ranks.
Todibo has been dubbed the next Raphael Varane and has penned a four-and-a-half year deal at the Nou Camp for a fee believed to be less than £1million.
He has taken the No 6 shirt that was vacated by Denis Suarez who on the same day as Todibo's arrival joined Arsenal on loan for the remainder of the season.
Although he has been available for selection since joining Barcelona, the defender has yet to make his debut for the club.