Amine Gouiri will certainly score better goals this season.
But, as the red-hot striker tapped into an open net after the ball rebounded helpfully into his path against Slavia Prague, Nice’s 20-year-old talisman had a place in French football history to call his own.
Only two French players had ever scored in each of their first four European starts before Thursday night.
Granted, Tottenham flop Georges-Kevin Nkoudou is one of the two.
But if Gouiri can emulate the career of the other, a certain Kylian Mbappe, then Celtic fans might have another reason to shake their heads in disbelief.
Because, according to Le Progres, the struggling Scottish giants decided against bringing another fresh-faced Frenchman to Glasgow over the summer.
A £6 million price-tag was the issue, with Celtic turning down the chance to sign a man who, on this evidence, could have comfortably replicated the impact of Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard at Parkhead.
By contrast, a Nice side now bankrolled by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had no concerns about the admittedly lofty price-tag Lyon had placed on the head of a France U21 international with just eight Ligue 1 appearances under his belt.
Their faith has since been rewarded with seven goals in 14 games, with Gouiri rapidly emerging as the reliable, penalty-box presence Nice have been crying out for ever since the Mario Balotelli-Alassane Plea partnership was broken up in 2019.
As a ruthless Sparta Prague hammered the final nail into Celtic’s Europa League coffin on Thursday, Gouiri was joining the great Mbappe in the record books.
Then again, with Nice losing again themselves last night, head coach Patrick Vieira will need some more magic from his £6 million man if the Ligue 1 outfit are to avoid suffering the same fate as their Scottish counterparts.
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