"He has what you do not find very easily. Next season I think he'll be a player who'll get to feature in the team."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said that about promising teenage attacker Chris Willock in March 2016. A year and change later, and Willock will get that chance at first-team honours, but not with the north London lot he joined as a 5-year-old, but instead Portuguese giant Benfica.
The four-time defending Primeira Liga champ announced the shock signing with a statement on its website Friday, adding that the 19-year-old joins Benfica on a five-year deal and will enlist with the club's reserve side for summer training.
A forward who tends to drift wide toward the flanks, Willock has impressed in Under-21 Premier League play and in four rungs of England's youth set-up. He'll participate in the 2017 Under-19 European Championships in Georgia which kicks off on July 2.
Chris is one of three Willock brothers pegged for first-team success, with the eldest of the clan plying his trade in Manchester United's academy while the youngest, Joe, has starred for the Gunners' youth side.