Making his Manchester United debut, teenager Nick Powell looked every bit a top-flight player, after coming on as a substitute and smashing a wonderful goal in his team's 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in Saturday's English Premier League game.
Sir Alex Ferguson sees Powell as the heir apparent to Paul Scholes, and the 18-year-old showed just why the manager thinks so highly of him, with a memorable debut display. "It's great to make my debut," Powell told MUTV. "To then cap it off with a goal is what I've been working for.
"Dario (Gradi, Crewe's director of football) used to say my game isn't just attacking and defending, it's about goals as well and I proved that last season and hopefully I can do that for United."
Powell insisted he would not let the early success go to his head. "My dad will keep me in touch, I'll tell you that," he said. "No, I'm just going to go home, have this great feeling and I'll keep myself on the ground.
"When I first came on it scared me a little bit, to be fair, because I'm only used to 5,000 people now and then, but it's a great atmosphere -- the fans are great. It wasn't the hardest game because they made it easier for me but I'm happy to be on the pitch getting minutes.
"I learn every day, especially from the midfielders -- Scholes, Carrick, Giggsy -- they're all great, they've all been through it and won trophies. That's what I want to do, so I hope to learn off them every day."
Ferguson believes he has found the perfect replacement for Scholes, who marked his 700th appearance for United with the opening goal. "Nick Powell is going to be a really good player," Ferguson said. "He has a great temperament, is two-footed and quick.
"He is a good physical specimen and has terrific vision.
"We hope Powell fills Paul Scholes' boots. For an 18-year-old boy it has been a terrific day."
Meanwhile, the United manager is determined to put things right in European competition, after his side crashed out in the group stages last season. "We've had opportunities in the competition," Ferguson said. "We've lost two finals to Barcelona and won two in the last decade or so but we want to do better. Certainly, we'll do better than last year -- no question about that.
"The European Cup is incredible. There's an atmosphere in the build-up to a European final and great charisma about it. Also, without question, it elevates your status within the game like the Real Madrids and AC Milans. We want to be up there in terms of the number of trophies won in European football."
United take on Galatasaray in their first match on Wednesday, and Ferguson believes the standard in the Champions League has increased considerably, with some of the smaller clubs consistently upsetting the bigger teams. "We've seen some examples of that over the last few years," he said. "For instance, the Cypriot team (Apoel Nicosia) getting to the quarterfinals and Basel beating us and getting to the next stage against Bayern Munich.
"There are a couple of other examples of the lesser-known teams doing well and Monaco played Porto in the final one time, which was a surprise. But, at the end of the day, you always think one of the big ones is going to win it.
"It doesn't do the competition any harm, to be honest with you, and who would have predicted Chelsea winning it last season?
"The only thing you can think about is qualifying. Manchester City are with Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Real Madrid and it's going to be a tight group. It doesn't mean to say City can't get through as the other teams will be saying City are strong but the two who go through will deserve it.
""If we don't go through, we will be criticised and pilloried for it and quite rightly. We've had our warning and I don't anticipate going out this time."
