Christian Pulisic's days at Borussia Dortmund have long seemed to be numbered, and never more than on the 24th October last year.
After a muted performance on the right wing against Atletico Madrid, Pulisic was substituted off with his side commanding a comfortable 2-0 lead.
His replacement, Jadon Sancho, did more in 11 minutes than Pulisic had managed in 79, and by full-time it was 4-0. A good night had turned into a special night.
For young players such as Pulisic and Sancho, the line between good and special can be difficult to pin down. It can be crossed both ways, as hype and pressure take their toll and thrilling youngsters turn into established players.
Pulisic, once Dortmund's most exciting talent, is now overshadowed by Sancho, whose meteoric rise has been one of the most special stories in European football this year.
For that reason alone, news that Pulisic will make a long-mooted transfer to Chelsea next summer is probably good news for all involved.
Chelsea will acquire a fine footballer who has the potential to become a devastating attacking force. Borussia Dortmund pick up a sizeable transfer fee but, by loaning Pulisic back until the end of the season, do not have to weaken their squad as they prepare to make an assault on the Bundesliga title this spring.
Finally, Pulisic himself can break free of a frustrating situation at Dortmund and realise a long-held dream of playing in England.
'It was always Christian's dream to play in the Premier League, and as a result we weren't able to renew his contract,' said Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc on Wednesday. 'Christian is a player with a flawless character and I am sure that he will give everything in the coming months.'
The move has been on the cards since the summer, and had only become more likely as Pulisic struggled to break into the first team under new Dortmund coach Lucien Favre. The American international has made only five starts this season, as Sancho has taken his place in an almost like-for-like swap.
Like Sancho, Pulisic is an explosive winger, a superb dribbler of the ball and an intelligent assist-provider. Chelsea, should they find a place for him, will be confident of getting value for the £58m they have agreed to pay for him.
It is a fee which makes Pulisic the second most lucrative sale in Dortmund's history. Yet unlike Ousmane Dembele, whose value was grossly inflated by Neymar's transfer to PSG, the large price tag feels like less of a gamble with the American.
Indeed, it is sometimes easy to forget that Pulisic is just 20 years old. In just over three years at Dortmund, he has picked up half a career's worth of experience, getting to know dizzying highs and crushing lows.
Since his Bundesliga debut back in 2015, he has become arguably the biggest US superstar in football and gone through something of a rollercoaster for Dortmund.
A bit part player in his first year, Pulisic made his breakthrough in Thomas Tuchel's second season in charge of Dortmund, playing in 42 of his side's 50 games in all competitions.
'I couldn't have imagined playing this much at the start of the season,' he told the Guardian at the end of that season, and gushed about the support he had received from Tuchel.
Alongside others such as Julian Weigl, Tuchel threw Pulisic into the deep end and demanded that he play beyond his years. So long as you were good enough, you played, ran the Tuchel mantra.
After Tuchel's acrimonious departure that summer, Pulisic was one of the few players who voiced gentle criticism of the club, saying that the coach's dismissal had been 'hard'. Yet his experience under Tuchel would serve him well the following year, as Dortmund plunged into crisis and Pulisic was called upon to lead.
With bad result following bad result and injuries to key senior players such as Marco Reus, Pulisic was often one of the few players who delivered for Dortmund in a torrid season. At that time, he seemed more than 18 months older than the newly arrived Sancho. While Dortmund were at pains to protect Sancho from media attention, Pulisic was often put forward to face the media after a defeat. He appeared to be 19 going on 30.
In perhaps the biggest irony of his young career, though, Pulisic's leadership also saw him help integrate Sancho into the Dortmund dressing room. The Englishman has often admitted that he looked up to the American, yet it also didn't take long for him to knock Pulisic out of the starting line-up.
With Marco Reus generally occupying one wing, there is simply no space for both Sancho and Pulisic to play in their preferred positions, and it is Sancho who has been the better player this season. That reality has only become more stark in recent months, and it is hard to begrudge Pulisic a desire to move away.
One is left to hope that the American who so often played beyond his years for Dortmund can do the same at Stamford Bridge, and develop his talent ever further. It may not have been the most memorable year for Christian Pulisic, but with a new challenge - and possibly a Bundesliga winner's medal - a glistening career remains possible.