From the time he left Japan at the age of ten to join Barcelona's fabled La Masia academy, the spotlight had already been shining on Takefusa Kubo.
While he was eventually forced to return home when he was deemed ineligible to play for the Spanish club after they were sanctioned for breaking international transfer rules, it did not take long for him to earn another big move to Europe -- as fellow LaLiga heavyweights Real Madrid swooped for him once he turned 18.
Now at Real Sociedad, having departed from Santiago Bernabeu without ever playing an official match for Los Blancos, Kubo has still gone on to carve out a creditable career for himself to date -- even if it perhaps has not reached the heights that might have been expected from a player who was on the books of two of Europe's biggest clubs.
It is sometimes easy to forget that he is only 24.
He tasted Europa League glory with Villarreal in 2021, recently became a Copa del Rey winner with Sociedad, and is now looking forward to featuring at his second consecutive FIFA World Cup.
And it is a tournament in which he could potentially play a pivotal role in deciding the fortunes of an ambitious Japan outfit.
Back at Qatar 2022, even at the age of just 21, there had already been plenty of hype surrounding Kubo on the back of an impressive first half-season with Sociedad -- whom he had joined from Madrid earlier that summer.
Unfortunately for him, his first taste of football's biggest stage would be far from the sweetest.
Kubo started the group-stage opener against Germany but was replaced at halftime, with both of Japan's goals coming after he was replaced in what proved to be a stunning 2-1 win.
He did not feature at all in their next outing -- a shock loss to Costa Rica -- before a similar fate awaited him in their final group match against another European powerhouse in Spain.
Kubo was once again replaced at the break, this time through injury, and it took his replacement Ritsu Dōan just three minutes to cancel out Spain's opener and ignite another remarkable victory over formidable opposition.
The injury would ultimately rule Kubo out of the round of 16 clash with Croatia, where the Samurai Blue would agonisingly be eliminated on penalties.
Three and a half years on, there could be even more expectations on him, and not just because he is now a more-seasoned campaigner -- already the sixth most-capped member of Japan's squad with 48 caps despite his relatively tender years.
Since the last World Cup, Samurai Blue coach Hajime Moriyasu has adopted an adventurous 3-4-2-1 formation where the wingback spots have usually been occupied by attack-minded players such as Dōan and Kaoru Mitoma. Meanwhile, Kubo -- when fit and firing -- has more often than not been an automatic choice as one of the two No. 10s alongside Takumi Minamino.
It is a system that served Japan well in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, even if they were always expected to comfortably book their ticket to North America.
From 16 matches, the Japanese racked up a staggering 54 goals and let in just three as they became to first team to qualify for the World Cup apart from the co-hosts. At one stage, they had even won nine straight matches having scored 38 goals while conceding none.
Kubo's contribution of four goals and eight assists made for a team-high 12 score involvements. And when Minamino was effectively ruled out of the World Cup after tearing his ACL in December, it already looked like a reshuffle would be required -- with Mitoma moving into a more-advanced role in the final third.
However, now that Mitoma's dream is also over -- having suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Brighton in their third-last match of the season -- it has only further increased the responsibility Kubo will have to shoulder.
""His injury is so disappointing," said Kubo, once it became clear that Mitoma would be missing the World Cup.
"I got in touch with him directly but, naturally, it's a tough time for him, he's such an important player.
"I want to carry Mitoma's feelings with me and give my all with an even greater sense of responsibility.
"We have to come together as one and, for Mitoma's sake, I hope we can pull together and make this a successful tournament."
There are some obvious candidates to play as that second No. 10.
Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada is more than capable of tuning his game more offensively even though he is now largely settled as a box-to-box midfielder. The silky-skilled Keito Nakamura and the fleet-footed Junya Itō -- who was Japan's most-productive creator in the qualifiers with ten assists -- could also be asked to play more centrally.
But none possess quite the creative spark that Minamino or Mitoma -- in differing styles -- would have provided.
Kubo does.
When he is in the channels, he is always threatening to dink a visionary pass over the opposition backline and set up a scoring chance. On the occasions he decides to pull wide, he usually drags a defender or two out with him, creating space for the ever-willing runner in Dōan to bomb forward on the underlap.
He is undeniably Japan's most naturally-gifted player. When he is fit and firing, he is a genuine game changer than can unlock even the best opposition the world has to offer.
To say Kubo's previous World Cup was a false dawn would be a little harsh, but -- by his own admission -- it did not go as well as he might have liked.
Perhaps, now slightly older and wiser, this World Cup will finally be his time to shine.
By the looks of things, Japan might certainly need it to be.
