Lewis Dobbin has really caught the eye this pre-season at Southampton.
Saints fans in the past have become all to used by being let down by flashy new recruits, with Paul Onuachu once costing £20m to pick up, only to fire home a limp four goals from 40 contests.
Already, Dobbin - who cost an eye-catching £9m - has three pre-season goals next to his name, with a hope he can be this red-hot in front of goal from minute one of his fresh Championship journey with Tonda Eckert's men, having amassed 17 goal contributions last season, as well, for a middle-of-the-road Preston North End team.
He will be expected to steer the Saints to promotion this forthcoming season, away from being a bright spark in an otherwise bang average outfit, with Dobbin looking to emulate this legend in his St. Mary's prime in the process.
The Saints legend Dobbin will look to emulate
While the majority of the modern Southampton fanbase will fondly remember their club as a Premier League regular, the more hardened individuals among the St. Mary's masses will also look back on the club's EFL days, as they sank all the way down to League One, with hearty nostalgia.
Even when the club were at their lowest in the third tier, with financial problems off the field, they still had so many gems, with Rickie Lambert scoring a hefty wad of his 117 Saints goals in the EFL, 78 to be precise, as Southampton won two promotions with the 11-time England international leading the line.
Adam Lallana is also viewed in the same glowing light as Lambert, with the 2011/12 season, which ended in the Saints returning to the Premier League, after dropping to the wilderness of the third tier, seeing the now retired duo play out of their skin.
Lining up down the wing, or through the middle as an attacking midfielder, like Dobbin, the modern great would go on to collect 11 goals and ten assists from 41 appearances to help the South Coast giants to a jubilant automatic promotion.
📅 OTD ➡ 2013: Adam Lallana scored THIS stunning goal as Southampton made their best start to a top-flight season 🤑 pic.twitter.com/aYm4UiCAhX
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 9, 2022
Dobbin would love to do the same in the here and now for Eckert's men, with a space in the automatic promotion positions the aim, as the ambitious Flynn Downes has uttered.
After all, the one-time Aston Villa youngster was only four goal contributions off matching Lallana's weighty goal and assist haul last season, so he could reach these insane heights, lining up next to the likes of Cyle Larin and Leo Scienza.
Dobbin will also view promotion as just the start, as he tries to tread down the revered path of the Saints icon even more...
Promotion could be just the start for Dobbin
It will be tough to immediately win promotion, with the second tier shaping up to be a very difficult league again next season, as West Ham United arrive into the tricky division with Jarrod Bowen amazingly still in tow.
But, the Saints are on a revenge mission, after Spygate stopped them in their tracks, and with the addition of Dobbin turning heads, they will want to upset the apple cart and be near the top of the competitive league, alongside the heavily fancied Hammers.
Dobbin will be aiming to go even further, if a return to the Premier League occurs, in establishing himself as a top-flight calibre talent, like Lallana managed to do.
The 38-year-old, who is back on the South Coast as a coach, would even go on to lift a Premier League title with Liverpool, post his blistering Saints exploits.
Before Dobbin gets too carried away by dreaming of being a Premier League champion, though, he will be hungry to be an immediate second-tier success with his new club, as a brand-new Lallana-style figure potentially takes the Championship by storm.
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