From a Manchester United perspective, Scott McTominay is a big reason to get excited right now.

The 21-year-old has taken the opportunities handed to him by Jose Mourinho in 2017/18 by the scruff of the neck, turning in some very mature displays in the heart of midfield.

In their last two high-profile games against Sevilla and Chelsea, McTominay has arguably been the standout player, a competent defensive entity with an eye for a pass.

Fans see him as the natural successor to Darren Fletcher and alongside Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, Mourinho has a midfield trio that is ideally suited to the club.

A lot of McTominay's strengths stem from his impressive physique.

Standing at 6'3", the Lancaster-born midfielder really contributes to Mourinho's love of height in midfield, but it wasn't always that way.

MCTOMINAY'S LATE DEVELOPMENT

As reported by the Independent, when he was 18, McTominay was actually around 10 inches shorter, before he had a very late growth spurt.

It's quite bizarre, because we are used to seeing players now break on to the scene when they are 18 or younger.

A great example is Kylian Mbappe last season with Monaco, when he was tearing it up as a teenage star and just imagine how bizarre it would look if in 18 months time, he was 10 inches taller.

McTominay's physical development saw him moved up from United's U18 squad and into their U23 side for 2016/17, where he was actually played further forward.

Now, he's one of their main men, what a story.

Matic has stated he always thought McTominay would go on to succeed in United's first-team when he first arrived from Chelsea in the summer.

“When I came to Manchester, I saw within a few days he would become a top player.

“I like him because he’s a very nice guy and he doesn’t have a problem asking me something before a game. I am always there to help him.

“He will be a big player for Manchester United and he’s working very hard. But I don’t want to say too many things about him because he’s still very young. But he deserves all the good things.”

The Serb was bang on the money.