It is a mystery how Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk slipped under the radar of the Premier League's elite clubs.
Since arriving at Saints for the relatively modest fee of £13million from Celtic in 2014, Van Dijk has been nothing short of a revelation, playing a major role in the club's qualification for the Europa League last season and sweeping the board at their end of season awards ceremony.
His form this term has been even more imperious, producing a man of the match performance in virtually every game so far, not least in last Sunday's 3-0 thrashing of West Ham at the London Stadium.
Van Dijk's stellar displays have not gone unnoticed by Southampton's new manager Claude Puel, who has named the Dutchman captain while resting club skipper Jose Fonte for their European campaign.
Leading from the back, Van Dijk was once again at his imperious best as Saints returned from their 2,300-mile journey to face Israeli champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva with a hard-earned 0-0 draw on Thursday night, extending their unbeaten run to five matches.
It is a mark of the high standards the towering centre-back has set himself that rather than bask in the glory of a fifth successive clean sheet he chose to apologise for missing Southampton's best chance, putting an early header over the crossbar when it appeared easier to score.
Puel's shocked reaction to the howler, jumping up and down inside his technical area, will have been shared by every Southampton fan who has grown used to seeing Van Dijk compliment his sterling defensive work with vital goals from set pieces.
In many ways Van Dijk is a throwback to the glory days of English football when the sign of a good centre-half was how many times they had broken their nose. He's a combination of Tony Adams and John Terry rolled into one, with the grace of Rio Ferdinand thrown in for good measure.
So at a time when Chelsea are crying out for a player to replace the talismanic Terry it is a wonder Antonio Conte did not spend the summer bashing Southampton's door down rather than opting to carry out an ultimately fruitless search in his native Italy.
Jose Mourinho is said to be a big admirer of a Southampton defender -- not the no-nonsense Van Dijk, but Fonte, who at seven years his partner's senior has perhaps already enjoyed the best years of his career, culminating in leading Portugal to Euro 2016 glory in the summer.
Liverpool have used Southampton as a feeder club in recent summers and while the undoubted attacking talents of former St Mary's stars Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane have been central to the Reds' impressive start to the season it is doubtful they would have been allowed to lose 2-0 at Burnley with Van Dijk at the heart of their suspect backline.
Even in-form Manchester City would surely find a role to accommodate Van Dijk in their so-far all-conquering line-up, given manager Pep Guardiola's love of ball-playing defenders.
When Saints travel to champions Leicester on Saturday, they will be looking to extend their run without conceding a goal, which, thanks largely to Van Dijk, already stands at an impressive seven-and-a-half hours.
Southampton were shrewd enough so realise van Dijk's worth by handing him a bumper new six-year contract over the summer.
They will have been as surprised as anyone who has seen him play on a regular basis that there has not been more of a clamour for his signature.
The top clubs' loss is most definitely Saints' gain.