Joshua Brenet picks up possession in and around the centre circle and sets off on the kind of run that would make even Cafu proud.
Driving forward from right-back, the FC Twente defender leaves one, two, three PEC Zwolle players trailing in his wake, barges his way into the penalty area like a turbo-powered tank through a picket fence.
Only a smart stop from the visiting goalkeeper denied Brenet one of the finest solo goals of the Eredivisie campaign.
So a penny for Giovanni Troupee’s thoughts, watching on from the bench as the man who replaced him in the Utrecht XI channelled his inner-Maradona in that 1-0 win over a struggling Zwolle side last time out.
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Not so long ago, Troupee was one of the most exciting teenage talents in Dutch football.
According to De Telegraaf, the former Netherlands U19 international was a transfer target for Leeds United and a handful of Eredivisie clubs back in 2018.
Few would have expected, at the time, that Troupee would be at risk of finding himself without a club just a few seasons later.
But, as reported by Dutch publication Tubantia, FC Twente have already decided not to renew the 24-year-old’s contract with his current deal expiring at the end of the current campaign.
Has the Leeds United ship sailed?
That decision may still come as a surprise.
Troupee, after all, has featured 20 times in the Eredivisie this season for a Twente side flying high in fourth, just a point behind third-place Feyenoord. And, only a few weeks ago, coach Ron Jans defended his young full-back in the face of criticism from many observers.
“Giovanni Troupee has also received a lot of criticism,” Jans told 1Twente Enschede. “(But) he is becoming stronger. One of his qualities is attacking, providing crosses and scoring goals.
“And he sometimes defended very well, for example against Ajax.”
What the future holds for Troupee is anyone’s guess. Perhaps Victor Orta, who was still making himself comfortable in his role as Leeds’ director of football when Troupee entered on the radar in 2018, will take another look at a player who, while stuttering somewhat, remains undeniably talented.
Leeds have a history when it comes to signing players from FC Twente too, having snapped up Mateusz Klich back in 2017.
But while Klich arrived with his reputation very much on the up, the same could not be said of Troupee.
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