Unfortunately, not every young and hungry talent that finds themselves on the cusp of making it at Manchester United capitalises on their brief moment in the sun.
For every David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes that manage to become idols after coming through the youth system, there are far more players who end up on the footballing scrapheap after Old Trafford without anything to show for their hard work and progression to get to that stage.
James Wilson falls into the latter category, tipped to be the next Ruud Van Nistelrooy for his potency at youth level for the Red Devils with interim boss Ryan Giggs even handing him a Premier League debut in 2014 versus Hull City off the bench.
It was a genius decision that worked on the night, as their homegrown talent netted twice on a debut – the first player since the Dutch marksman to achieve that feat – that saw Man United fans get carried away in what they believed their young striker would go on to achieve.
Nearly ten years on from his Man United senior debut and being heralded as "special" by Robin van Persie, Wilson now finds himself in League One with Port Vale.
How did James Wilson perform for Man Utd?
James Wilson was a stand-out talent at youth level for the Red Devils and big things were expected of him when making the transition to the first-team.
Scoring 20 goals for both the Man United U19s and U21s, he may have been expected to follow in the footsteps of previous greats who had humble beginnings at the Theatre of Dreams before exploding into life in the senior game.
Despite scoring twice on his full debut versus Hull City – the pressurised Ruud Van Nistelrooy 2.0 tag placed onto him from then on – Wilson would only go on to score one more goal in the top-flight for his expectant employers versus QPR the following season.
WIlson would be shipped out on loan far and wide – loaned out a total of four times from Old Trafford to Brighton, Aberdeen, Sheffield United – before he was eventually released following the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
Since severing ties with his boyhood club, Wilson has primarily plied his trade in the lower reaches of English football to varying levels of success.
How has Wilson performed since leaving Man United?
Speaking about the 'lows' he experienced in the aftermath of leaving Man United with the Daily Mail recently, the now 27-year-old has matured to become a competent striker in the EFL despite battling demons.
Playing for both Salford City and Port Vale has seen Wilson get amongst the goals once more, after firing blanks throughout his permanent stay at Aberdeen directly after the Red Devils with Sir Alex Ferguson's ex-club signing him after a decent loan switch.
He would manage 10 goals from 35 starts when playing for Salford City, the Ammies owned by Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, and other Man United greats as a major passion project.
The Valiants would then come calling for the Red Devils outcast, Port Vale his fixed residency at this moment in time with 88 games for the club under his belt.
20 goals in that time is not the most impressive goal return – Wilson's time at Vale Park has been dampened by frequent injuries – but the 27-year-old ace now has a home in Vale after uncertain times.
Not quite living up to the outrageous billing of being the second coming of Van Nistelrooy, Wilson can take some comfort from the fact his career didn't completely fall off a cliff and he will be raring to return to League One action soon when called upon.