The first sign of the status of Malik Tillman comes here at Customs at Eindhoven Airport When Postsport is asked about the goal of their visit.
When the name of Tillman is mentioned, the officer at Border Control starts to be lyrical about the 22-year-old midfielder, who came through the ranks of Bayern Munich.
Tillman may not be known in broader football circles, but with people like Chelsea interested in the profile of the American International, it will not be long before that changes.
Born in Germany, Tillman came to Bayern with his brother Timothy in 2015 and after spells on loan at Rangers and PSV activated the Dutch side to buy him for £ 12 million last summer.
Four miles away from the airport on PSV's De Herdgang -Training complex, Tillman Meet Sportsport in a room full of photos that shows the history of this club.
PSV accept that they are a sales club and it is here where Romario, Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben have continued.
Sir Bobby Robson was managed here in the 1990s and more recently his players such as Georginio Wijnaldum, Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke all moved to England from Eindhoven.
Tillman is not shy to insist that the Premier League is the dream, which says that PSV was very clear in their own strategy to develop players and that it played a role to let him make the move, although Bayern has a £ 35 million inkuspens clause that becomes active in the summer of 2026, when he hopes to play in a World Basis.
“They (PSV) told me that they want to develop and sell players for big money,” he says. 'So yes, the Premier League is a dream. It is the best competition in the world and it is a dream of mine to play there. I see myself in a Top Premier League club that can win the competition and can compete for the Champions League and generally competes for trophies. '
That does not mean that his focus on is now on something other than PSV. In a season that was disturbed by a single injury that excluded him from January to March, Tillman has 13 goals and four assists, which on average a target involvement every 132 minutes and the manager Peter Bosz for unlocking his talents.
“If you see Malik on the field, you know what you missed,” Bosz said earlier this month.
While Mauricio Pochettino, the boss of the US, has compared his physicality with that of his former student of Deli and Tillman as an 'incredible talent'.
Tillman already has a Champions League medal. He was part of the Bayern team who won the trophy in 2020 as an 18-year-old and there is a nice picture of him next to Jamal Musiala and Joshua Zirkzee on the outfield in Lisbon that night.
“It is a special feeling to be part of it,” he recalls. 'You would not know that I was there, but it does mean a lot to be there. I want to be there again. '
Shortly after Zirkzee was stuck by his own fans in Old Trafford and for Tillman, who still keeps in touch with the man UTD player, there is no surprise of that reaction because of his own experience in Scotland, although he feels for his friend.
“He is a great player with so many qualities. Ask everyone who has trained with him in Bologna or Man United and they will say the same thing, but that kind of reaction is really just English football, “he says.
'You have a bad game and everyone hates you. They love football and want their team to win, so I get it, but it's really hard. I lived and played at Rangers in Scotland, so it's the same. I am used to it. I want to be the best I can be. '
He spent 2022-23 at Rangers, scored 12 goals and received five assists before moving to the Netherlands. There was no chance for regular first team football at Bayern.
'I wanted to leave Bayern and play consistently at a high level and show people because I knew I was ready, he says. 'Bayern told me that my mentality had to improve and that was the majority in Scotland – there was a different pressure at Ibrox and it was not just about how good you were with the ball.
“It was everything else like the mentality to win duels, to defend for your life, non-stop and things like that and that was the majority.”
However, there is still work to do. Last week he was closed by his own manager and teammates because he came late for a competition. He was born and then a fine and was previously fallen before sleeping.
When we meet each other, it is short after the winter break, but a week later Tillman is injured and misses PSV's collisions against Liverpool and Arsenal in the Champions League. At that time he had created more chances (21) than any other player in the competition.
When Mail Sport starts this status, Tillman insists that he has always known his assets. His versatility is emphasized by the fact that he can play as a central midfielder, attacking midfielder or as a left wing player, who can cut with his stronger right foot.
“I know I can do it. For me it was only surprising because I played in the number six in the Champions League, “he says. I know that I can play a lot of positions, but I prefer to play as eight or ten because it fits my qualities the most, playing between the lines and shows how creative I can be. '
We ask what his qualities are and after a little more push he opens with a smile.
“I am rather intelligent football, so I know when and where I have to stand on the field and when it comes to the last third part, I know I can score goals and offer assists,” he says.
Paul Pogba is one of his most important inspirations, but he believes that he can take something of everyone while retaining his own identity on the field.
'Pogba is the one I looked up most, but I take things from every player. Kevin De Bruyne for example and when I was Bayern, they were players such as Thiago and Joshua Kimmich. But I am my player with my own style, “he says.
After an operation in Doha, then rehabilitation in Munich, Tillman returned earlier than expected to end his season and show his value, with two goals in the four games he played since the return. He is renewed and ready to go again.
“You can be ready for a Hyped Up Malik that will give everything,” he says. 'On and next to the field I may seem like a cooled man and I am really, but I am always willing to learn and develop as a person and football player. It is now about consistency and that is the goal. I know I have the qualities and it's about showing them. '
Tillman reveals that Spanish started to learn. “I already speak English and German – they are good languages, but I try to learn a new one and it is something more exotic,” he says.
This season he has his own chef and focuses much more on gym work with the simple idea that if he gets bigger and stronger, he will be more difficult to deal with the field.
There is a brilliant clip from earlier in the season on CBS when Micah Richards, Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher wanted to discuss Tillman's hairstyle and he revealed that he only paid € 3.50 for a trim in Eindhoven.
If he gets the Premier League movement that he wants, there is no doubt that he has to pay a little more for his hairstyles. Not that he will of course find it.