Kai Havertz ended the 2020-21 campaign at Chelsea with a match-winning goal in the Champions League final and has now become Germany's youngest scorer at a European Championship.
Questions were asked of the 22-year-old midway through his first season at Stamford Bridge and whether value could be found by the Blues in a £70 million ($97m) deal.
The highly rated forward silenced his doubters in style, particularly in continental competition, and has now re-written the record books with his country at Euro 2020.
How did Havertz make history?
Havertz put in lively performance during a heavyweight clash with Portugal on Saturday.
His presence led to Ruben Dias putting through his own net after Cristiano Ronaldo had broken the deadlock in a thrilling tie at the Allianz Arena.
He was then involved in a second own goal minutes later when posing problems inside the box and grabbed Germany's third himself six minutes into the second half.
Robin Gosens provided the assist for Havertz as he was left with the simplest of tasks of bundling home from close range.
In the process, a piece of European Championship history was made.
What did Havertz say?
"We can be satisfied with the performance," the Chelsea forward told Magenta TV post-match. "We played them well.
"It was important not to throw everything overboard after the France game, but to stay true to ourselves. We trust the system and we trust the players.
"Hungary will be a tough opponent that you can't underestimate, very strong defensively. They'll be another tough opponent."
The bigger picture
Germany needed inspiration from somewhere against Portugal, having lost their Euro 2020 opener to France.
Havertz stepped up in what quickly became a eye-catching collective outing from Die Mannschaft.
They have leaks to plug at the back, having also allowed Diogo Jota to breach their back line in Munich, but they look a real threat going forward.
Havertz has a key role to play in that, with the only blot on his copybook against the Portuguese coming when he collected a second-half yellow card.
Germany would go on to win the match 4-2, giving them a lifeline in Group F after they fell to France in their opener.
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