Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong had their chances to break through at Manchester United and at times it seemed they would.
This season, for example, appeared to be the perfect time and the perfect circumstances. United went into the campaign with a threadbare squad and the No.10 and right wing positions were particularly lacking in quality - and there for the taking for two much-vaunted teenagers.
And with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager - a coach who has delivered, in the cases of Brandon Williams and Mason Greenwood on his promise to promote youth at Old Trafford - it seemed they had the right manager too. One of Gomes and Chong's peers in the United youth ranks was Joshua Bohui, a player who left 18 months ago after becoming exasperated with the lack of opportunities.
Gomes and Chong cannot really say the same. While their contract situations could have played a part in their reduced playing time this term - which has been less than many expected after both impressed on the summer pre-season tour - they've been around the first team squad on a regular basis.
But both players' current deals expire in the summer and so they must follow the advice of another former United youngster named Joshua.
Preston North End's Joshua Harrop sent a warning to young players at United in a recent interview. In his view, it's foolhardy to hold out for game-time rather than seek opportunities down the leagues. It's a viewpoint mirrored by plenty who have left United in recent seasons: RoShaun Williams, Sam Johnstone, James Wilson and of course Bohui.
"If you're getting into your twenties and not playing then you have to be thinking 'I need to go play' if you believe in your talent,” Harrop told the Daily Star.
"You can't fall into the traps of the lifestyle of a footballer, you have to put all of that to the side and focus on actual football.”
Harrop has made a success of leaving United, despite doing what Wilson did and scoring on his debut on the final game of the season. That 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, Harrop's only senior United game and of course his only goal, earned the forward a move to Preston where he's now, aged 24, reaping the rewards and helping the Lilywhites challenge for promotion as a regular in Alex Neil's team.
“I'm very much driven in the fact I want to be the best player I can be,” he added.
“I enjoy the sport and playing first, the lifestyle is just part of the parcel.”
The Palace game, in May 2017, is also significant because it marked Gomes' senior debut as a 16-year-old. He's been surrounded by hype and expectation for most of his young career. Yet in almost three years since Palace, the diminutive playmaker has made just four more substitute appearances in the league - two of them coming under Solskjaer this season.
He will no longer be a teenager in August, while Chong has already celebrated his 20th birthday so the timing just seems right. The pair don't seem to have smashed down the door and demanded a regular place in the first team. Neither have ever scored a senior goal, for example.
So although Solskjaer has said contract offers have been made to the pair, they won't have been given any guarantees about increased playing time because they have to be earned.
And from Gomes and Chong's perspective, there will be dozens of offers from up and down the leagues, from England and abroad, when they depart Old Trafford.
It's nobody's fault that things haven't quite worked out. As Harrop says, there comes a time when footballers have to think about playing football and that's what these two talented youngsters are starting to prioritise. No regrets, and all that.