Jose Mourinho hopes Memphis Depay performs so well at Lyon that the outgoing Manchester United winger one day returns to Old Trafford.
Expectations were high in the summer of 2015 when Netherlands international Depay arrived in a big-money deal from PSV Eindhoven, but an underwhelming first season was followed by a difficult second campaign.
The 22-year-old has made just one United start since Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal in the summer and is has now joined Lyon in a deal Press Association Sport reports is in the region of €25 million (£21.7m).
United have inserted a sell-on clause into the deal and an option that could see them one day buy back the winger -- a move Mourinho would be welcome to if things work out in France.
Put to the boss that the club have got some security built into the deal if Depay comes good, the Portuguese said: "Of course, because potentially he is a very good player.
"I think when Mr Van Gaal decided to buy him, he did well. He knew him very well from the national team. He was very young when in the [2014] World Cup. He had flashes of top quality.
"He was playing well in Holland -- we know that the Dutch league is not the same but he was showing very good things. I think Mr Van Gaal and Manchester United they did well to buy him.
"He didn't succeed in this 18 months, I would say, but he is very young so I think it is important for the club to keep control of this talent.
"And we all wish that he plays very, very well at Olympique Lyon, and why not to come back because everyone here likes him."
Depay becomes this month's second high-profile departure at Old Trafford after Morgan Schneiderlin joined Everton in a £20m deal rising to £24m.
Like the Frenchman, things have not worked out for Depay at Old Trafford -- something Mourinho says is in large part is down to the glut of wingers at his disposal.
"He's a player from one position, the only position where we have overbooking," Mourinho said: "He's a winger and wingers are what we have more of. So he was the position where it's more difficult to have chances, where it's more difficult to be the next choice because it is a position where we never have problems.
"We have Lingard, Mata, we have Mkhitaryan, we have Martial, Ashley Young, we have Marcus Rashford, it's a position where we have six possibilities. Even Rooney sometimes played from the left."
Mourinho also dismissed any doubts that there was a lack of professionalism from Depay upon his arrival in England.
"I think it's difficult for me to answer [why it has not worked out] because it also didn't work also last season," the United boss said. "But from my perspective, instead of trying to say why it didn't work, I think it is easier for me and he deserves me to say that he was a fantastic professional.
"So if somebody thinks it didn't work because he was not a great professional, it is totally wrong. One thing is some picture that somebody takes with him in an amazing car or dressing in a very specific way, but the image is totally wrong.
"The guy is a fantastic professional, he is a kid that respected everyone, a kid that tried to work hard to get more chances, a kid that was frustrated because he was not having that, but I only have good things to say about him. I think this is much more important."
Mourinho said he had not been considering selling Schneiderlin or Depay this January, but the United boss says the right offers arrived for players that were "not totally happy" because of their lack of game time.
"I don't think it is human to stop them from going," he said. "Only a bad offer or no offer stops them to go, but when the offer is correct, and we know how to evaluate that, I don't think it's human to stop somebody to go.
"So if [the same applies to] one of the players that are not happy, again I would not stop them to go."
One player who is staying put is right back Antonio Valencia, who has been in impressive form this season and has had his contract extended to June 2018 -- which takes him into a ninth campaign as a United player.
Discussing the extension, Mourinho said: "I don't see it as a reward. He is simply the best right-back you can have, there is no better right-back in football. It isn't a reward for him, it is a privilege for us to be able to keep such a good player and man."
Bastian Schweinsteiger, back in the squad but not playing regularly, has been linked with a move to Major League Soccer this month, while it has been reported that Ashley Young is considering an offer from China.
"I don't know because it is media," Mourinho said about Young. "The first time I heard about it was when I was informed that it was in the media.
"I don't give credit to that unless Ashley Young comes and tells me something about it, which he didn't."
Mourinho was similarly coy when it came to questions about January acquisitions.
United head to Stoke on Saturday with a fully fit squad, but Mourinho knows the squad will be tested as they juggle league and cup competitions.
"I always think the best time is the summer market," he added. "I always consider the January market as an emergency one where you can try and resolve some problems, where you can try to give a little boost to the team for the rest of the season, but it is not an easy market. I have to admit that."
Information from ESPN FC's Man United correspondent Arindam Rej and Press Association Sport was used in this report.