When considering the disjointed short career of Eidur Gudjohnsen - in the PSV Eindhoven first team at 17, the striking partner of Ronaldo; playing in the Champions' League as a teenager; replacing his father Arnur when he made his debut for Iceland and generally regarded as one of the outstanding prospects of his generation in Europe - perhaps the most curious aspect for Gudjohnsen himself is that when he takes to the pitch at Wembley stadium tomorrow afternoon it will be in the kit of Bolton Wanderers.
There seem to be few questions in anyone's mind that this is a 21-year-old who could quite easily grace the colours of the three other semi-finalists in this season's FA Cup, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle United. And then some.
All three are Premiership clubs of course, and as such receive many times the attention Bolton have warranted, even in an upside down, shake it all about season like theirs, but what is notable about all clubs in the Premier League is the constant and flattering attention they have directed toward Bolton. The reason: Eidur Gudjohnsen. At 6ft 1in and 13 stone, he has something of the Matt Le Tissier about him: he scores spectacular goals.
Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Sunderland are some of the clubs to have expressed an interest in Gudjohnsen's future. Derby County took it a stage further, offering £3 million in December. When that was rejected by the powers that be at Bolton, Derby offered £4 million. Bolton, a club which has given the impression that it would sell its granny if the price was right, managed to say no twice.
This cannot have been easy. The reason Colin Todd left Bolton in September was the £1.75 million sale of Per Frandsen to Blackburn Rovers, after previously seeing players like Nathan Blake, Arnar Gunnlaugsson, Alan Thompson and Scott Sellars depart since 1998's Premiership relegation. But somehow Bolton's board have found the gumption to hang on to Gudjohnsen.
Eighteen goals this season, including one in each round of the FA Cup, have been persuasive factors. It would be no surprise, though, if Gudjohnsen moved on in the summer for a sum around twice Derby's second offer.
Gudjohnsen would still be a couple of months short of his 22nd birthday then and, given that he would have finished only his first full season as a professional, could be expected to improve considerably.
Crucially, for gifted players of his age he would also be relatively fresh. Ronaldo, spending his time recuperating from injury in Brazil rather than playing for Inter Milan, is the ultimate example of premature burn-out. Ronaldo is also part of Gudjohnsen's experience.
Not that Gudjohnsen appeared keen to elaborate on that bare fact at Bolton's open day on Thursday. Ronaldo was only an inference when Gudjohnsen said: "Everybody knows I've played with some big names." He got off the subject quickly.
Maybe that was understandable. At 17, Gudjohnsen was almost as highly thought of at PSV as Ronaldo. Three goals in his first six games gave an indication of the Icelander's ability, but then Gudjohnsen was floored by an ankle injury which nearly ended his career. His consolation was that it sent that career off on a tangent which ended in rural Lancashire.
It was via a trip to Waterford, where Gudjohnsen scored on his debut as a Bolton trialist the July before last. Todd saw enough that day to risk signing a player who had been released by PSV, who clearly thought Gudjohnsen was finished.
Deflated, Gudjohnsen returned to Iceland with KR Reykjavik. The broken ankle bones and damaged ligaments took a long time to recover and when Gudjohnsen turned up for his Bolton trial he was obviously overweight. But the fat could not disguise the skill.
Nevertheless, Todd did not give Gudjohnsen his first start until the following April. "Eidur has been patient, determined and disciplined," said Todd shortly before he left. "I took a chance when I bought him last summer; he had been out of the game for two years. But he's very talented." The figure paid has remained a secret, but tightlipped Todd is not the sort of man to use "very talented" lightly.
Nor it seems is Gudjohnsen. "I should have scored more this season and the chances I have missed have annoyed me," he says with some thrust.
"But I can't be the best until I am completely fit. People were expecting a lot of me back then. I heard what other people were saying and just tried to ignore it. It was a big learning experience for me at PSV.
"I am just enjoying myself and my life at the moment. I am not looking for a move. I read the speculation but as soon as I do I forget it. Bolton is where I am trying to re-start my career."
Wembley is a little more than a kick-start, especially for Bolton. Having played in the first FA Cup final there in 1923, they would love to feature in the last. Should he score again tomorrow and Bolton win, Gudjohnsen would then be in the position of possibly equalling Nat Lofthouse's 1953 record by scoring in every round. There is no higher company at Bolton.
Not that Lofthouse is Gudjohnsen's hero. That honour belongs to Gudjohnsen's father, Arnur, a winger with Anderlecht in the 1980s. At 39, Gudjohnsen senior still plays in the Icelandic first division and when Eidur came on for his first Iceland cap it was Arnur who was substituted. Now Eidur has two players of his own on the way. "I am a grandfather already," Arnur joked this week. "There is nothing else to do in Iceland. I blame the weather."
It's not that great in Bolton either, but it has warmed Eidur Gudjohnsen.
