Maybe Cristian Romero has finally grown up. Or maybe Thomas Frank is banking on Romero's appointment as Tottenham captain to complete the process.
Either way, the signs are promising and maybe this will prove the masterstroke that stops the Argentina centre half yearning for a move to Spanish football and convince him to commit his future to North London.
We will see about that but in Udine, during an agonising defeat on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain, he led in typical style. He scored one and had a big hand in the other and from his pivotal position in the centre of the back three came very close to leading the team to silverware in Frank's first competitive fixture.