Perhaps it is only apt that the man who sparked Manchester United's turnaround with his Old Trafford arrival in January would end up scoring the crucial goal on the final day of the English Premier League season that sealed their return to the Champions League.
Since signing for United, Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes has contributed a stunning 10 goals and eight assists in 20 games.
With his cool penalty finish in the 71st minute, the 25-year-old handed United the lead before Jesse Lingard's stoppage-time goal added gloss to a 2-0 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium yesterday.
The result helped United finish third and consigned the Foxes to fifth place and the Europa League. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea beat Wolves 2-0 to finish fourth and secure Champions League qualification themselves.
Considering how United made their worst top-flight start in 30 years with just 10 points from nine games, taking into account how they were ninth as recently as February, the manner in which they concluded their league campaign was a success.
But this is the most successful club in the Premier League era. Third should not be the new first.
The fact remains they finished a whopping 33 points behind champions Liverpool and there is plenty of catching up to do.
And they could do no worse than study what the Reds did right after Jurgen Klopp took over in 2015.
In the German's first season, Liverpool were eighth. Two years later, they added firepower with Mohamed Salah and finished fourth.
In 2018, they shored up their defence with Virgil van Dijk, consolidated fourth place and reached the Champions League final. Alisson Becker and Fabinho were added last season to keep things watertight at the back as they finished second but won the Champions League.
Continuity led to consistency and the league title this year. The similarities are uncanny and United, now where their bitter rivals were in 2017, must build on this season.
With Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood scoring more than 60 goals, United have the most potent strike force in England this season. It was Greenwood the livewire who pickpocketed the ball in midfield before Martial was fouled by Wes Morgan, leading to the penalty.
Fernandes, who had threaded the Frenchman through, has been inspirational but there remain doubts over Paul Pogba's defensive discipline in a 4-2-3-1 system alongside Nemanja Matic. Leicester's Wilfred Ndidi and Wolves' Ruben Neves are possible targets to replace the Serb.
Then there is the question whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sticks with David de Gea as his starting goalkeeper? The goalkeeper was abject in the their FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea but for all of his high-profile blunders, they still boast the best defensive record outside the top two.
Yet United rode their luck against Leicester - Jamie Vardy was allowed space during a set piece to glance a header onto the woodwork on the hour mark - and could do with a top centre-back such as Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly.
The good news is United's Champions League qualification could give them an edge in the transfer market in terms of the $150 million or so they will receive from Uefa, and added pulling power.
The Europa League place went to Tottenham, who held Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park to leapfrog Wolves into sixth position on goal difference.
Wolves can still qualify for the Champions League if they win this season's Europa League, or make it into the Europa League again if Chelsea lift the FA Cup next weekend.
