Rocco Vata notched up his first senior goal for Celtic on Sunday afternoon, with the Ireland U21 international scoring in a rampant 5-0 win for the Hoops over minnows Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup.
That Vata's first strike for the Hoops came in a massive victory - and courtesy of an assist from Ireland senior international Mikey Johnston - will have only further fuelled hopes for Irish fans that the youngster might work himself into more regular contention with Celtic.
After the game, however, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was eager to cool expectations of more regular game time for Vata, saying that the 18-year-old had to "earn" his place in the team:
Young players have to earn the right.
There has been a lot of noise around Rocco - but any young player has to earn their opportunity to play.
I've given many young players opportunities in my career. I like Rocco and he has qualities. He is strong, he's aggressive and he wants to get goals. When he came on he got his goal and he had chances.
On the whole, largely positive from Rodgers - but Celtic legend Peter Grant has expressed some rather strained claims about the nature of the manager's relationship with Rocco Vata.
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Ex-Celtic man questions behind-the-scenes Rocco Vata-Brendan Rodgers relationship
Grant made almost 400 appearances for Celtic across a 15-year period in the late 20th century, and is a regular presence at Celtic Park nowadays.
The former midfielder spoke to the Go Radio Football Show this week about all things Scottish football - and was surprised by Brendan Rodgers' remarks on Rocco Vata:
I saw him playing wide at the start of the season and I thought he'd done really well. But, if you listen to Brendan's interviews, you're thinking, 'maybe there's something not right off the pitch.' I don't know.
We keep saying it - it's easy to be critical of the manager not playing certain players, but then maybe there's something in the background. It could be anything, we don't know...it was an interesting interview after with Brendan talking about Rocco.
He made the point clear - it's not down to ability. Maybe something is making him have that wee boil on his back and not enjoying certain parts of his professionalism.
It certainly seems a stretch to deduce from Brendan Rodgers' interview comments on Rocco Vata that he is unhappy with the Irishman's application behind the scenes. Rather, the quotes seem to encourage Vata and his young teammates to push themselves to reach the levels achieved by the first team.
Vata has been linked with a move away from Glasgow in recent months, as one of the most touted Irish youngsters looks for more regular first-team football. Just this month, Bologna and Como have been linked with moves for the winger.
In his post-match interview, Rodgers confirmed that there was an offer on the table for Vata, but stressed that any decision on his future is down to the player himself:
That will be up to him. He's a talent. It depends what the mentality is with him and his representatives. You get some young players whose representatives will tell you if they are not playing in the first team, starting, they don't want to stay. You'd better go then because you have got to earn the right to play.
He is 18. I don't need players ready at 19 unless they are special talents. But by 20-21 they need to be ready. You can see he has the tools and this can be a really good place for him to develop.
Vata is of Albanian descent, with his father Rudi having lined out for both the Albanian national team and Celtic during his playing career.
Rocco Vata was born in Glasgow but declared for Ireland, which he is eligible for through his maternal grandmother. He scored twice on his debut for the Ireland U21s against San Marino last September.
Here's hoping we'll see plenty more of Rocco Vata in both an Ireland jersey and a Celtic one in years to come.
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