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Kaden Braithwaite became the third-youngest debutant in Manchester City history and the youngest for Pep Guardiola last season.
Last season Kaden Braithwaite made history for Manchester City.
Plucked from the Under-18s into the first team after just one training sessions by Txiki Begiristain, the left-back became the third-youngest debutant in club history when he started against Watford in the Carabao Cup. It was a promising debut and came in a position where City were not blessed with specialists.
As far as Braithwaite's involvement with the first team went though, there would be no more games last season. Not in the Carabao Cup, not in the FA Cup against lower-league opposition, and not in any other competition.
Pep Guardiola tends to use more senior stars in the League Cup when they need minutes - just look at how Divine Mukasa was the only youngster taken to Swansea this week when so many were used at Huddersfield - and last season more than any other the manager decided it was not the place for untested talent.
Braithwaite returned to the Under-18s, and even this season the jump up to Ben Wilkinson's Under-21s has not been immediate. It was not the plan to keep him in the Under-18s, but with Stephen Mfuni and Kian Noble in front of him the teenager has had to find game time back with Oliver Reiss.
There are still encouraging signs. For much of this season Braithwaite has looked a cut above the level - both physically and technically. It was notable in the recent game with Liverpool how much control he commanded when he was on the ball moving into midfield from centre-back and how his teammates looked for him as much as opposition players looked to get far away from him.
Withdrawn on the hour mark with the expectation that he would play 90 minutes in the UEFA Youth League a few days later, Braithwaite's departure made City Under-18s look weaker and in his absence Liverpool scored a winner that condemned the young Blues to their first league defeat in over a year. His impact was almost bigger after he left.
"Playing with the Under-18s is not the idea but also with the players we have already in the EDS in the same position we try to find the best way for him to make the best steps and to improve in his way of playing football and his character," said Reiss.
"Being around the Under-18s can give him taking responsibilities as a captain can give him some good things also to be very important for the future. Probably in the future there will be more opportunities to play up but this depends on everything from the first team and the EDS so step by step.
"He's doing very well in terms of how he is in the dressing room and also having good conversations with me in terms of our performances in the game, after the game. The lads can be happy to have him in the team. Having this calmness on the ball, the control a little bit is always good to have a quality player like him in the team and the character."
Braithwaite is still chasing those opportunities every day, and remains a promising talent in the academy. It is just that, as open as the first team door can seem for youngsters, getting through the door is far from a guarantee of staying there.
With time on his side, all he can do is keep working in whichever team he plays in, waiting for the next chance to come along.
The test for all academy players is that they don't know when their next opportunity is coming, but they have to be ready for it when it does. Braithwaite has learned over the last year that an evening in the spotlight is no guarantee of more time there.
All he can do is keep doing everything asked of him and be ready when the next time to shine arrives.
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