The last official post that Rodrygo Goes made on his social media profiles until today was a heartwarming photo of him, his young parents and little sister sat in business class as they waited to be whisked off from Sao Paulo Guarulhos International to the Spanish capital early on Monday morning.
The posts afterwards represented a crowning moment on the Bernabeu's hallowed turf taken directly from his official unveiling for the 13-times European champions Real Madrid.
There the 18-year-old will link up with fellow Brazilian starlet Vinicius Jr, Japanese sensation Takefusa Kubo and more senior recent signings such as Eden Hazard. Possibly, still to come, is Manchester United's Paul Pogba.
Rodrygo Goes has become the latest Brazilian starlet to sign on the dotted line for Real Madrid
The highly-rated 18-year-old was snapped up by the Spanish giants for the pricey sum of £40m
While there is plenty of road ahead, the journey is already complete for the Goeses. He was born in the same industrial town as Ederson, Osasco, in the western reaches of Latin America's largest metropolis, at the turn of 2001.
Now his parents have witnessed their only son being picked up by Santos - the club that famously nurtured Pele and Neymar - as a 10 year old for its futsal team. He then turned professional and was snapped up by a European giant a year and three days ago for a tidy €45million (£40m) sum.
Just as they had when Real came up with a similar fee for Vinicius, football fans around the planet, and even some who support rival outfits in his homeland, where tribalism runs deep, scoffed at Florentino Perez's outlay on Goes.
Rodrygo was paraded in front of the media masses, with expectation now increasing
Club president Florentino Perez (right) insists Madrid will do all they can for Rodrygo to grow
After all, for every Neymar or Ronaldo, there are just as many cautionary tales of Brazilians failing to justify their price tags and fulfil their potential. Robinho, another product of Santos' world-renowned Vila Belmiro academy, is a primary example.
But those around Rodrygo since the start of the decade have always believed in him. At the age of 11 he signed a record contract with Nike two years earlier than a budding Neymar had and became the youngest athlete of all time on the multinational sporting giant's books.
Just like Neymar and Robinho however, by then Rodrygo was already playing in Santos' U13 team and standing out among the older lads as they became Sao Paulo state champions.
He was the top scorer with 20 goals. By 14, he was voted the best player of the Copa Nike and went on to impress Zico in his namesake
