Yeah, I think it was after a couple of UCL group stage performances last season for Shaktar where he scored a couple of great (Bale-esque iirc some of the posts on here) goals, albeit seemingly on the counter where he could utilise his pace to the fullest. Then the hype went into overdrive. Or well, that was when i first really noticed/heard of him.
TBH, that perfectly describes my positive introduction to him as a player.
I'd heard of him, but hadn't seen anything of him. Then saw him a number of times for Shakhtar in the CL and a few times for Ukraine and thought that he looked like a good talent.
It was obvious that pace was his main weapon, and that he'd be best playing somewhere were he had the space to drive into rather than for a possession based team whose opponents drop deep, etc.
But, yeah, there was a Bale-esque element to his pace and powerful runs down the left and he looked, while raw, like he could already hurt teams with some end product.
However, like plenty of players who rely on raw pace (and sometimes power), he doesn't look like he's kicked on at all in terms of honing his technique, decision making and end product.
Probably hasn't helped signing for Chelsea at a time when they're making so many changes and are a bit all over the place in terms of stability and having to introduce so many new players all at once. Getting a move to another club - such as Arsenal - would I'm sure have seen him progress more by now. Though what his ceiling actually is I don't know. Certainly seems lower than I first thought.
