Last season we thought we were witnessing the emergence of one of English football's next big things in QPR midfielder Ebere Eze.

The Rs man returned from a loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers and took the Championship by the scruff of the neck under Steve McClaren.

Before the 2018/19 campaign had even reached December, Eze had notched three goals and for assists, frequently thrilling the Loftus Road faithful who had gone into the campaign with little to look forward to.

However, after Christmas his form quickly started to decline as the West Londoners were sucked deeper and deeper in a relegation scrap, with the 21-year-old finding the back of the net just once more on New Years Day.

As the summer rolled around, the links to Premier League clubs that had emerged in the previous campaign had cooled significantly and Eze, along with the help of new Rs boss Mark Warburton, now had to rediscover his best form.

And during their 2019/20 opening day win away to Stoke City on Saturday, it looks like he has done just that...

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With stars such as Luke Freeman, Nahki Wells and Tomer Hemed all leaving, the Rs arrived at the Bet365 Stadium having gone through the ringer this summer.

But throughout the match, Eze oozed class and quickly turned the attentions of the travelling fans to the future rather than mourning the loss of their stars.

His goal was outstanding. It summed up everything great about Eze. Excellent spacial awareness, a brutal turn of pace, a delicate side-step and a brutal finish.

The goal came from one of his two shots, both of which found the target. That clinical nature was on show in the rest of his game as well.

A pass accuracy of 93% for a player given a free role in attack is outstanding whilst three accurate long passes from three attempted showed the different strings to his bow.

The challenge now for Eze will be  to maintain those performances. Last season, the fans were able to forgive the youngster, given it was his first full season in the first-team. But expectations will be higher this time around and onlookers may not be so forgiving if he disappears in the New Year agaon.

However, it looks a safe bet that this will not be the case. With Freeman having left, Eze showed the swagger and confidence of a player who was born to be the main man.

So, for QPR fans, they could be about to witness a rather special season for the starlet.