Dunfermline defender Ben Richards-Everton reckons his flatmate Faissal El Bakhtaoui is the quiet man who is destined to become a big noise in Scottish football.
El Bakhtaoui has scored nine goals in his first five matches of the season – including a run of four successive braces – as he thrives under new boss Allan Johnston and sends scouts flocking to Fife.
His scoring feats are all the more impressive given he has been substituted before the 70-minute mark in four of the matches he has played this season.
“God knows how many goals Fais will score when he’s able to finish a game,” Everton-Richards jokes.
Everton-Richards, a summer arrival at East End Park following his release by Partick Thistle, struck up an immediate friendship with the diminutive striker and they live together, along with Pars midfielder Josh Falkingham.
So there are few people better placed to sum up the progress of the man who only stepped up to the senior game at the age of 19 after previously starring in the small-scale version of the sport, Futsal.
Everton-Richards said: “Fais is having an unbelievable season so far. He’s really quiet around the lads, but comes out of his shell a bit at home.
“He’s a top guy and, as soon as I came to the club, we clicked, so I’m always looking to give him bits and pieces of advice.
“He’s definitely doing the business at the moment. He was scoring two goals a game until the Forfar match – and he hasn’t even been finishing the games most of the time.
“The gaffer is probably taking him off to protect him, there were a couple of wild challenges on him the other night against Forfar. I’ve told him ‘you need to protect yourself, you are in good form so the opposition will target you’.
“I don’t mean anyone will try to injure him, but they will try to get into him hard – it’s what I would do as a defender if I knew a player was on fire, like Fais.
“Hopefully he continues to do what he is doing, and not think about what people are saying about teams watching him – although there’s no doubt he can go on and play at a higher level in Scotland.”
Ironically, El Bakhtaoui’s goal record is only matched in British football by Peterhead striker Rory McAllister, who netted five goals in the Petrofac Training Cup win over the Pars’ fierce rivals, Falkirk, in midweek to also take his tally to nine.
He continued: “I heard about that performance! He is obviously a good striker and I’m sure he will keep us on our toes. But you want to play against good players, as a defender.
“We will try to keep doing our jobs and focus on our own game. If that works as well as it has done in the last few matches, then hopefully we will be on the right end of the result again.”