Some eyebrows were raised in surprise when Erik Lamela was named in Argentina's squad to face Bolivia and Mexico early next month.
The announcement came just a few days after the attacking midfielder's relationship with fans at his English club, Tottenham, hit a new low.
Brought off the bench just over an hour into the home game against Stoke, with Tottenham leading 2-0, he made not the slightest impact as the visitors took control and hit back to equalise.
The logic of his coach Mauricio Pochettino was clear enough; with Stoke attacking down the flanks he needed a player to block the space and then punish Stoke down the wing as they left themselves open. But in practice Lamela was unable to defend effectively and made no attacking contribution, continually being knocked off the ball. He cut a forlorn figure, totally bereft of confidence.
It was not supposed to be like this. For much of his young life, Lamela has been appointed as the special one.
In 2004, when he was just 12, he found himself splattered all over Argentina's sports press. Barcelona wanted to prize him away from River Plate and take him across the Atlantic. River fought off the offer by doing a deal with his parents to ensure that he stayed in Buenos Aires.
For the next few years, as he sprouted up and made his way through the club's youth ranks, he was always the reference figure. It was common for other River Plate youth products to say that "I was in Lamela's year," or "I was in the year below Lamela." He was the standout, the lanky, long haired [at the time], left-footed talent who was on his way to greatness.
He made the senior side and was handed River's No. 10 shirt -- an iconic jersey worn by some of the all-time greats -- before he had celebrated his 19th birthday.
It was, though, a tough time for the club. Relegation in Argentina was worked out on the basis of results over the previous three years. The club had got themselves in such a mess that Lamela went into his debut season in the No. 10 shirt with River embroiled in a battle to avoid an unprecedented demotion to the second division.
And in June 2011 they were relegated. Under the circumstances, however, Lamela had performed with some credit. He could hardly be blamed -- most of the damage had been done in the seasons when he was still in the youth team. His promise remained. And with River now in the second division, the time had come for the club to cash in, and so he was sold to Roma.
His first season in Serie A was indifferent, but he was still the special one. Club legend Francesco Totti said that Lamela was his long-term successor. And in his second season Lamela made a powerful case.
Increasingly at home in a wide midfield role -- especially cutting in from the right -- he scored 15 goals in 33 league appearances. Some even speculated that he might be a future candidate for FIFA player of the year awards.
But despite his exploits, Roma failed to make the Champions League, and Tottenham, rich with the cash from the sale of Gareth Bale, came calling.
The first season was marred by injury. The second showed flickers. And this, the newly started third season, is really looking like make or break, with the evidence from Saturday's match against Stoke not looking promising at all.
It is true that, despite the size of his transfer free (some £30 million), Erik Lamela no longer is considered special at his current club. At Tottenham he is one among many. But Lamela should now be bedded in, and he has a compatriot for a coach. Time for excuses is over.
After what happened on Saturday, it will be interesting to see how Pochettino handles his No. 11 in the next couple of games before the international break.
On Saturday his side are away to surprise early pace-setters Leicester. A week later against Everton, will he subject Lamela to the grumblings of an increasingly impatient White Hart Lane crowd?
After that, the player may well be very keen to get away and join up with his international teammates for the games against Bolivia and Mexico.
It seems clear, though, that Argentina coach Gerardo Martino has merely called up his Copa America squad, thinking that with some of the European leagues yet to get underway, it would be foolish to take club form into account at this stage.
But with the serious business of World Cup qualification kicking off in October, this is not a policy that will be maintained for the next call-up. The only way that he can continue his international career is by making more of an impact for his club -- and so, with patience running thin, these are important weeks in the life of Erik Lamela.