Jose Mourinho never usually talks about opposition players before a game.
He feels that anything he says will only serve as motivation for them to produce an inspired performance against his team and he doesn't want that.
But before Manchester United played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in January 2014, he broke his own rule. For Adnan Januzaj.
"He is a fantastic player," said Mourinho.
"He is not 18, he is 25. He is so mature and comfortable. A very good and important player.
"I just think he is a very good player with the great conditions to have a great long-term career. I don't know the boy individually, but it looks like he has the lot."
Fast forward three years and Mourinho was again talking about Januzaj. This time it was at United's training ground as manager. But his words were far less complimentary.
Asked whether Januzaj, who has a contract until 2018, still had a future at Old Trafford after spending a season on loan at Sunderland, Mourinho was quick to the point.
"I have decided," he said bluntly. "But I am not telling you."
His decision, it turns out, is to let Januzaj leave the club this summer. Sources have told ESPN FC that United are considering a number of offers from European clubs, all in the region of £10 million, including one from Spanish side Real Sociedad.
United will install a buy-back option in any deal, just as they did when Memphis Depay left for Lyon in January. It is a nod to the fact that, at 22, there is still time for the Belgian international to realise his fantastic potential. But his immediate future lies away from United.
The writing was on the wall last summer.
The No. 11 shirt he inherited from Ryan Giggs was handed to Anthony Martial as a way to placate the Frenchman who had seen his No.9 given to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Januzaj was included in Mourinho's squad for his first game against Wigan and the preseason tour of China. But when a slimmed-down group was picked to play Galatasaray in Gothenburg, he was left out. Soon afterwards, he was sent on loan to Sunderland with Mourinho insisting: "He fits in my plans, which is why he's on loan at a Premier League club. We care about him and think he's a talented player. Hopefully everything will go well for him because we want him back."
But it didn't. And he doesn't.
Januzaj had a poor season in a poor team as Sunderland finished bottom of the Premier League. It was in contrast to his friend, Andreas Pereira, who managed to impress on loan at Granada even though they finished bottom of La Liga. Pereira is likely to get an opportunity to win a place in Mourinho's squad for next season. Januzaj, meanwhile, will be starting over.
In each youth team dressing room at United's AON training complex, there is a noticeboard by the door with 14 rules written by Gary Neville. No. 2 is "Give 100 percent all the time. You have never arrived at Man United."
There is a feeling at United that Januzaj did not heed the advice. Thomas Tuchel hinted at something similar during an ill-fated four-month loan spell at Borussia Dortmund in 2015, during which Januzaj only managed three starts, all in the Europa League.
While the change in Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo between the ages of 18 and 22 was staggering, there is an argument that Januzaj is no better now than he was as a teenager.
It might be another case of too much too fast. He burst through at United under David Moyes, scoring twice on his full Premier League debut against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Two weeks later he signed a new five-year contract -- increasing his wages tenfold -- to apparently ward off interest from Real Madrid.
That summer he went to the World Cup with Belgium after suggestions, however fanciful, that he could eventually represent England through the residency rule.
Januzaj has suffered from the merry-go-round of managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and the question marks about which position is his best.
But he will have to take a certain amount of responsibility himself. Whether or not that is in his nature is another question.
A player once hailed as "having the lot" by Mourinho is now being offloaded by the same manager.
It is a sad end to what once looked like a promising United career.