He signed with great acclaim but it's fair to say Harvey White's Stevenage career is yet to hit the heights.
Brought in on deadline day last summer, the former Tottenham Hotspur youngster is known to have superb technical ability and the vision to pick out a pass.
He was frustrated plenty of times last season as he made a mere 18 appearances in all competitions, 11 of them off the bench with only four starts in the league.
But he believes the change of manager from Steve Evans to Alex Revell could have a massive impact on his career.
He said: "Some of the lads will say there’s subtle differences [between the two managers] but for me personally, there are massive [differences].
"I really like the gaffer’s way of playing, trying to get the creative players on the ball to create things and just having a bit of freedom to move on the pitch, to make certain passes.
"I love [being in the centre of the park, dictating play]. I love feeding the creative players who can then go on and score goals.
"I love linking the play, [dictating] the tempo of the game.
"That's kind of me in a in a nutshell I guess.
"I just need to add the off the ball stuff, a lot more interceptions, a lot more tackles, but I’m definitely improving on that side.
"I love both sides of the game. It's what you’ve got to do, I guess.
"But there are a lot of improvements for myself, a lot to improve on and I think I think the gaffer will get the best out of me."
And he believes the Boro boss can help him have the breakout season so many fans are longing for.
"I'd like to think so," White said. "I'm positive about everything and I just love my football.
"I love expressing myself out on the pitch and I love winning, love winning games.
"So there is pressure on myself to have a really good season but I'm just going to take every game [one at a time], training session by training session and just improve."
He got a start in Stevenage's latest pre-season fixture, a 3-1 loss at home to Coventry City, and played for three-quarters of the contest.
And while the result didn't go to plan, there was enough in the performance as a whole, as well as his individually, to leave the 22-year-old confident ahead of the new League One season.
"It was a very disappointing result because we want to win every game possible," he admitted.
"Performance wise, I think there were a lot of positives to take out of it.
"We started really brightly, obviously took the lead and then it was just a shame about the goals.
"They are errors we need to take out of our performance.
"But other than that, there were loads and loads of positives, playing against a very good side.
"I think we gave them a good, tough challenge."
The tempo of the opening 19 minutes in particular was excellent from Revell's men, taking the lead through Dan Phillips in the second minute, and going on to create plenty more chances.
"That's coming from the training pitch," said White. "Everyone looks sharp in training and everyone's pushing for a spot.
"We all want minutes in preseason, just to show the manager that you are ready.
"In all our pre-season games so far, everyone has shown that, everyone has shown they are ready for season.
"There are still a few more games to go in pre-season and everyone's positive, hopefully we can get [more] wins.
"We just want to win them all and go from there."
And as eyes slowly turn to August 10 and the opening day of the season at home to Shrewsbury Town, the midfielder had a bold statement to make.
"Oh, 100 per cent [we’re looking at the play-offs] and even more I guess," he said.
"Our squad is definitely capable of winning the league or getting into the automatics.
"I think play-offs are just the minimum, that's what the staff and players are believing this year, believing we can do it.
"We've had tough pre-season games and we've definitely stood up to the challenge against good opposition."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here