Southampton fans will remember Lesley Ugochukwu as their 11th-point hero in the Premier League, and now, he is set to reunite with another former Saint who delighted St. Mary's with a string of important goals.
Burnley and Southampton were last league-fellows over three seasons back. Since then, they haven't caught hold of each other in the division, so, the lone cup tie in the meanwhile was the perfect opportunity to reignite a bottom-half rivalry gone quiet.
But the transfer markets, they have become the place where both Saints and Burnley lock horns in stealing the other's impactful players.
The Saints set the tone for this notion by bringing Taylor Harwood-Bellis in their court. Since then, Burnley have gone full unstoppable mode in inviting every former Southampton face who aced the Premier League at St. Mary's.
Nathan Redmond and Jay Rodriguez are the most household names to name a few. While age caught up with them at Burnley, the Clarets have brought in Armando Broja being well aware that he's a player who can someday make Southampton fans label him a Burnley hero more than anything else.
Ugochukwu and Broja aiming for better Premier League reputation
Now, the Saints iconic 11th-point hero Lesley Ugochukwu is all dressed up to make his new Burnley fans proud.
In his own words, Fabrizio Romano mentioned this out of the box transfer saying: "After Armando Broja, Lesley Ugochukwu also leaves Chelsea and joins Burnley on permanent deal."
Arguably, Ugochukwu may have risked relegation too much because Valencia were a stable first-division suitor unlike Burnley but the urge to prove yourself in the Premier League can't be understated. Teaming up with Broja could also be a significant driving factor behind this deal with the two of them having a couple of clubs in common but are yet to see out the ninety minutes as starters even once.
Burnley fans will wish for that to change but let's see whether their respective relegation counts will remain unaffected there or not.