Marcus Rashford's rapid rise has been self-made rather than lucky according to his former coach at Fletcher Moss Rangers, the youth club where it all began for the Manchester United and England striker.
Rashford, 18, only made his United debut on Feb. 25 but now he is in France as part of Roy Hodgson's England squad for the European Championship, meaning this weekend he has had to cancel an appearance at the junior club that gave him his start in the game.
Thirteen years after first taking him on, skills coach David Horrocks insists Rashford has not been lucky to get to where he is so quickly.
Horrocks told ESPN FC: "Luck has played very little or no part in his success thus far. His ability to prepare himself for the opportunity that has been presented to him has been, so far, perfect.
"At Fletcher Moss Rangers, we feel that 'luck' is where 'preparation meets opportunity' and the way in which his family had allowed us to enhance his skills by working with us in our methods of development have been a contributing factor in his success.
"Fletcher Moss Rangers are the losers for his success and we are more than happy with this situation too. He won't be able to attend the club's presentation event -- he was also scheduled to present a new kit to our new under 7s team too -- due to his now extensive club and country commitments. We hope he will come back to us soon with his winner's medal."
Rashford has a winner's medal already from United's FA Cup glory, which came at the end of a whirlwind three months since making his debut for the club. Soon after the FA Cup win, he scored on his only England appearance and then he was on the plane for Euro 2016, meaning he will be in Marseille on Saturday when England play Russia.
Horrocks said: "Everyone on the red side of Manchester is very proud of what Marcus has achieved so far. We, at Fletcher Moss Rangers, feel extremely blessed that Marcus came to our soccer school all those years ago when he was a five-year-old.
"Although it was easy to see he loved the ball and was eager to learn, and was even more eager to express his skills with the ball, he was also a real nice, shy kid."
There are hopes that many more will step off the Fletcher Moss production line and make it into the professional game. They are doing their best to attract the investment that will help them keep moulding talent.
Horrocks said: "We have many new 'Marcus's' we are working with and they are who need our attention, not Marcus Rashford. We have done our bit with him. It's Manchester United and Roy Hodgson who are developing him now.
"Along with developing the children, our focus is now on developing Fletcher Moss Rangers and the facility we currently lease from the local council. We are building relationships to hopefully entice investment in Fletcher Moss Rangers to rebuild what we have in the community and grow to be better than we are at present.
"The facility we use has been well documented and highlighted as a haven for producing a lot of talented players, like Wes Brown, Ravel Morrison, Jesse Lingard, Tyler Blackett, Kieren Westwood. Imagine what can be achieved with a purpose-made facility. I can."