Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Daniel Podence made quite the impression on his first Premier League start with Martin Keown left hailing the impact of a reported Celtic target on Match of the Day 2 (12 July, 11pm).
On Saturday night, reports broke linking a man who only moved to England six months ago an immediate exit from Molineux.
Former Olympiakos livewire Podence had made a slow start to life in Old Gold and, according to The Mirror, Celtic were already making inquiries about whether the £17 million speedster was available on loan.
But on this weekend’s evidence, Podence could be about to explode onto the English footballing scene.
The 24-year-old was included in the starting XI for the very first time when Everton came to town and rewarded Nuno Espirito Santo with a performance full of drive and devilish dribbling.
It was Podence who set Wolves on their way to a 3-0 thumping, bamboozling Lucas Digne to win a penalty which Raul Jimenez converted.
And if Jordan Pickford was half a second slower as he scrambled a spilled shot off the line, he would have had a first Premier League goal to celebrate too.
“I think he’s a really good player,” Arsenal legend Keown said at full-time. “I think the message was to get more bodies into the final third and they did that very well.
“They’ve been guilty at times of waiting to take the game to the opposition but this young man has got ability.
“Podence, here is really clever. He’s waiting for the tackle and Digne makes an awful, rash challenge. He drew that challenge with his trickery and he really impressed me.
“He wants to run with the ball.”
It was just a year ago that Celtic seized the opportunity to bring an out-of-favour winger to Glasgow after he had struggled to settle south of the border.
But if Podence can build on his rampaging performance against Everton, the chances of him following in Moi Elyounoussi’s footsteps will look slimmer by the week.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
