Will Lankshear opted to join Middlesbrough this summer as his next daring step after leaving Tottenham Hotspur behind.
At 21 years of age, it's clear that the inexperienced striker wanted more regular minutes in men's football, that wasn't being handed to him in North London, and he has a big chance to set the Championship alight this forthcoming season with Southampton's Spygate nemesis in Boro.
He is already off the mark competitively for his new Teesside employers, as he proved to be the decisive match-winner against Wrexham in the EFL Cup on Friday night, with Tonda Eckert's men left with a feeling of what could have been, as they were in the original transfer tussle for the in-demand youngster.
In the end, Kim Hellberg and Co. were the club that manage to cough up the substantial cash Spurs wanted for one of their own, with the deal - all in all - coming in at a bumper £20m.
While Boro fans were dazzled by Lankshear's individual brilliance versus the Red Dragons, Southampton supporters had to endure a wasteful display from Ben Brereton Diaz against Colchester United.
Thankfully, a brand-new striker looks to be entering Eckert's ranks very soon, to offer the German more attacking options...
Southampton set to seal striker deal
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported, late on Sunday night, that Eckert's promotion candidates have reached a verbal agreement to sign Manchester City starlet Divin Mubama on loan.
Next, internal discussions need to take place for the loan switch to be greenlit, with Mubama no stranger to Championship football, having played in the gruelling second tier just last season with Stoke City.
Now, he could be returning as an option for Southampton to utilise up top, away from the goal-shy Chilean, and Cameron Archer, who has interest in his services from Wrexham, as per EFL-centric journalist Darren Witcoop.
The South Coast giants will be hoping they can win their very own Lankshear with this temporary deal, as while Mubama won't be their player outright, he certainly has the same goalscoring chops as the Boro number seven when at full flow.
He could be their own Lankshear
Both Lankshear and Mubama have been natural-born goalscorers from a very early age.
For the Spurs U21s, the new Teesside sensation put away a deadly 26 goals from 35 appearances. With 13 senior goals now in the Championship, after a 12-goal loan stint at Oxford United last season, he's ready to blossom in the men's game.
Staggeringly, Mubama is even more lethal in front of goal than his Riverside counterpart, arguably, with the London-born marksman powering home a ridiculous 79 goals for both City, and West Ham United, at youth level.
As his ex-academy manager Kenny Brown at the London Stadium once labelled him, he is an "incredible" finisher, and could offer the Saints something different up top, away from over-relying on Cyle Larin to deliver the goods.
He has Championship experience under his belt, too, like Lankshear boasted at the Kassam, with five goals put away at Stoke last campaign.
These numbers might not be anything to write home about, but Lankshear's 12-goal return last season for the U's was also rather modest, and now he's a £10m+ acquisition.
With the likes of Finn Azaz feeding him chances, the fox-in-the-box striker should have a field day at St. Mary's.
On a loan basis, this has all the makings of being a superb bit of business for Eckert and Co, as the Saints win a youthful and raw attacker who can fire them into the promotion race, all while getting over the sickening blow of missing out on Boro's statement buy.
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