The quicker that Barcelona can move on from the Lionel Messi era, the better for all concerned.
Whilst the Argentinian was making his debut for Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday night, the Catalans were giving a maiden La Liga bow to 17-year-old Pablo Paez Gavira, known as Gavi.
He was brought on against Getafe alongside 19-year-old Nico Gonzalez, who had seen his first minutes earlier in the season against Real Sociedad.
Both looked completely comfortable with the ball at their feet and were a breath of fresh air in a game which had gone stale by the time they came on with 20 minutes to play.
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Yusuf Demir, an 18-year-old debutant this season, against Athletic Club, is a player who is surely destined for great things, whilst Pedri (18) has already established himself in the first-team and Ansu Fati (18) is on the verge of a return after injury.
By integrating all of them into the squad, Ronald Koeman is recovering a key tenet of the Johan Cruyff philosophy that the club holds so dear, and which had been missing during the Josep Maria Bartomeu presidency.
Holding onto the notion that Messi would’ve made this team better does no one any favours. Players may not have been able to grow as quickly with the captain still in situ, even if he was the game-changer supreme.
Sometimes it’s about more than results.