It's staggering to think that Jacob Sorensen hadn't played a single minute of Premier League football before Dean Smith arrived at the club.
The Danish midfielder was often left out of Daniel Farke's plans and struggled to even make the bench under Smith's predecessor. For the talk of those who have improved since City changed head coach, very few are discussing Sorensen's form.
Let's be fair for Farke, given the experience of Pierre Lees-Melou, who played at a high level in Ligue 1, Billy Gilmour and Kenny McLean, who had minutes in the Premier League, Mathias Normann, who played internationally for Norway and in the Russian Premier League, that is perhaps no surprise.
Saturday may have been Adam Idah's moment in the spotlight. Grant Hanley was a colossus at the back. Pierre Lees-Melou did offer signs of encouragement, especially in possession.
But very few have spoken about Sorensen and the quality of his performance in Norwich's important victory over Everton at the weekend.
A 4-4-2 formation can be very difficult for midfield players to execute with excellence because of the lack of specialisms both ahead and behind you.
In essence, it is a system that can, depending on how it's deployed, ask more of those tasked with battling in the centre of the pitch.
Midfielders can often get criticised if they aren't visibly contributing to attacks or producing strong tackles to break up play.
There isn't anything necessarily flashy about the way Sorensen conducts his work. He is neat and tidy. He maintains spells of possession. He isn't a massive risk-taker with the ball. He is reliable. He fights fires, He is positionally adept.
But don't underestimate those qualities for a side that is scrapping at the wrong end of the table and in desperate need of consistency and results.
Sorensen delivered key interventions late on to prevent Richarlison from getting a shot at goal from a decent position and through clearing Demarai Gray's cross.
Dig deeper into his performance metrics and you begin to uncover how impressive Sorensen's performance on Saturday was.
Defensively, the Dane won eight of his 11 defensive duels, three of his five aerial battles and made 10 interceptions, double the number he has averaged so far this season.
On the flip side, his progressive passing wasn't as strong.
Only three of his six passes into the penalty area were successful, he simply isn't a footballer who splits defences or picks players out in good positions for shots.
There is safety in his play with the ball. But if Lees-Melou can replicate the numbers he produced in possession, then Sorensen's work in possession won't need to show great improvement.
Only Brandon Williams won more defensive duels than Sorensen. Nobody made more interceptions. Norwich were completely dominant in terms of how many duels they won in the centre of the pitch.
Whisper it quietly, but few are improving and raising their level as much as Sorensen.
Described as a 'utility player' by Smith, he can struggle to stake his claim in his natural position because of his versatility. If he can replicate that level of performance and effectiveness he displayed, then he may be hard to displace in the centre of the park.
Quite simply, Norwich don't have another firefighter willing to complete the hard yards or with an appetite from the ugly aspects of the game, but Sorensen isn't a player chasing credit nor headlines.
Mathias Normann, although positionally more defensive-minded, isn't a natural protector in the same way as Alex Tettey or Oliver Skipp were during their time at the club.
Normann opts for more of a quarterback style. Sorensen is willing to protect and be positionally adept rather than concentrating on his work in possession.
Naturally, whenever discussing a player in this position for Norwich, there is the comparison with Skipp given his performances on loan at the club last season.
Funnily enough, I was speaking to a member of Norwich's recruitment team back in March who conceded any return would be unlikely due to the fact his performances merited inclusion in Tottenham's side.
His inclusion in Antonio Conte's squad won't surprise anybody who watched him regularly last season.
When placing the players side by side looking at their last five matches, the results make for interesting reading.
Sorensen has averaged a higher amount of defensive actions (15.15) per game than Skipp (7.04), has a higher percentage for duels won (68% compared to Skipp's 57%) and is measuring a higher number of successful aerial duels to the Spurs man.
That makes for encouraging reading, but those numbers do require context.
The first being that Sorensen has featured as a central defender and so is naturally going to be involved in more defensive phases of play, meaning his stats will be naturally inflated somewhat.
Secondly, Norwich are doing more defending than Spurs, so again, his metrics point to his involvement in an inferior team.
Skipp is also vastly superior in terms of his work in possession. But this wasn't supposed to be a comparison, more an example of Sorensen's work against the ball.
To compare him with his colleagues, no player has completed more defensive actions than Sorensen in the last five matches.
All the trends are immensely positive. He is defending with regularity, yes, but also well. He's enjoying positive percentages when it comes to duels won. Clearly Smith will be working with him to improve his work with the ball.
But Norwich may have found a midfielder capable of simplifying play and putting out fires. That could be a pivotal component in their bid for survival.
It will be interesting whether Sorensen maintains the same level of gametime once Normann, Billy Gilmour and Kenny McLean return to the fold, but his numbers from recent matches suggest there is a role to be found for him.
Is he the next Skipp? Clearly not. But his role could be just as important to the overall balance of the midfield.
He is the quiet improver. Smith will be working out who he can trust and who he can't, Sorensen is certainly in the former camp.
An opportunity against Watford looks likely given the victory, if he can replicate that level of performance then there is no reason why Smith can't find a role for him in this current situation.
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