With each passing performance, the fact Cardiff City managed to land Cody Drameh in the January transfer window is increasingly baffling and impressive in equal measure.
Leeds United's loss has most certainly been Cardiff's gain. Not only did he up sticks to show the world what he was capable of, but he rolled his sleeves up and played a starring role in the Bluebirds' fight to stave off relegation. What a find he has been.
When was the last time there was so much excitement about a right-back at Cardiff? Typically, Cardiff's players in that position have been honest, diligent, solid players who perform important yet largely functional roles.
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Drameh, simply put, is a freak. He does everything one would want from a defender, but attacks like a man possessed. He will be defending his own goal line one minute and then pressing the opposition goalkeeper literally seconds later.
And it's not just the odd outing, either, it's every single time he takes the pitch. He is a cut above at this level and it beggars belief that Leeds United let him leave in the January transfer window.
Yes, Marcelo Bielsa wanted him to stay, but on the proviso the player realised he would be only a squad player and game-time would be limited. Chapeau for the youngster's courage in cutting against the grain, standing up to his parent club and wanting to go out and prove just what a talent he is.
Drameh's ceiling is so, so high. He is rapid both in and out of possession. The frequency with which he cuts out opposition attacks before embarking on blistering runs up the wing is mightily impressive, too. He is terrific in the air, too, an aspect of his game which is perhaps overlooked. On Wednesday, for example, he backpedalled in his own box and nicked the ball away from Taylor Harwood-Bellis at the back post with the Potters man looking certain to head home for the visitors.
He is also positionally and tactically astute, something which must be a right-back's bread and butter, and it underpins all the eye-catching aspects of his game. For him to standout so clearly during a match packed with excellent individual performances is no mean feat.
This is not to do any of Cardiff's players a disservice, either. So many of them have been terrific over the last few months and have quietened a vocal minority and silenced critics in the process. But if Drameh is not a Premier League right-back in waiting then heavens knows who is.
The numbers Drameh posted against Stoke City are staggering. He made six tackles, won 14 out of 18 ground duels, won four fouls, played three key passes, completed four dribbles and, of course, made one assist.
That assist was quite incredible, too. One glance up from the press box as a buzz began to ring around Cardiff City Stadium preceded the sight of Drameh pressing Harwood-Bellis on the edge of the Stoke area. The Bluebirds man intercepted the Stoke player's pass and it fell into Jordan Hugill's path; the striker did the rest.
On Drameh's contribution to his goal, Hugill said after the match: "He is very good. Leeds have got a very good player on their hands there. I think when he is in that type of aggressive form, pushing on and pressing people, I think he is brilliant. And I am rewarding him with assists!"
He makes a salient point, of course. He is a Leeds player and they should be the ones who are excited, really. Because while he has been phenomenal in the blue of Cardiff City, it is the Elland Road club who hold all the cards.
It was a brave call for Drameh to go against legendary manager Bielsa in January, but it has proved to be the right one. He wanted first-team football and to prove to everyone just how good of a player he is and he is doing that in spades at the minute. Quite how he has not played more often for Leeds is frankly baffling.
His loan exit prompted an ugly reaction from some Leeds fans on social media, too. That he had the gumption or nerve to go against Bielsa, a man so revered in Yorkshire, was seen as some sort of slight on the club by a minority of Leeds supporters who chastised him for doing so.
But the bare-faced fact is that Bielsa saw Drameh as only a squad player who would see minimal game-time, something which was understandably unappealing to a player so obviously gifted and hungry to make an impact at a crucial juncture in his career.
The 20-year-old is supremely talented and has shown that time and time again in his 14 Championship appearances - WhoScored in fact rate him as Cardiff's second-best player this season. His base level is insane and his better performances are honestly risible in this division.
Cardiff's only hope is that Leeds still refuse to realise it. They had this talent right under their noses and were still reticent to throw him a bone, even when they had a mountain of injuries at the beginning of the season.
There is a new manager in charge there now, of course, in Jesse Marsch, and it is yet to be seen quite what he makes of the England under-21 international. Steve Morison has said that if the player is not fancied again next season he will be at the front of the queue sticking his hand up as high as he can to try and get him back to the Welsh capital this summer. ( You can read more about that here.)
Kudos to Morison and his recruitment team, too, for pouncing on such an opportunity to get him to Cardiff. The manager said that, while relatively unheralded, Drameh was his first choice in the January window and it is so clear now to see why.
Morison and no doubt Cardiff fans will hope that Drameh has enjoyed such a fantastic phase of development with the Bluebirds that he pushes through a return again next season. Although it seems unthinkable that Leeds won't swallow their pride and admit they were wrong over their assessment of the player and hand him a key role next term.
If that isn't the case, though, you'd better believe Cardiff will do everything in their power to get him back next season.
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