Damion Downs was the unlikely goalscoring hero last time out in pre-season for Southampton.
Pre-season contests are often uneventful, as the players on the pitch are just trying to get some freshness into their legs, but Downs would still manage to stand out, as he scored the only goal of the game against Eintracht Braunschweig with a wonderfully taken solo strike.
Off the back of this goal, the £7m signing from last summer has suddenly been placed back in the good book pile at St. Mary's, with a real chance he could feature on the Championship opening day versus Watford.
Downs' sudden redemption arc
The St. Mary's masses would have anticipated that this summer was the correct time to offload Downs after a horror-show first season in England.
The 22-year-old is yet to get off the mark for the Saints in competitive action, with zero strikes falling into his lap from 14 appearances last campaign. To make matters worse, he also remained goalless out on loan with Hamburg.
Yet, with his solo strike against Braunschweig fresh in the memory now, this notion that he had been completely written off as an expensive waste of time is longer correct, with Eckert further speaking positively about the 6-foot-4 forward this pre-season.
The German would label Downs as a "very dynamic" talent after this 1-0 win in pre-season, and with Southampton set to get rid of Cameron Archer, there does appear to be a spot in the squad for the ex-Koln striker as a reserve option to Cyle Larin.
Further noted as "giving Eckert something to think about" by Saints-based writer Christian Lovegrove, it's clear the feeling among the St. Mary's masses is that Downs does have a part to play next season.
This same re-energised feeling about the number 42 cannot be extended to this other attacker, however, as he continues to be linked with an exit.
Southampton won't be extending their Downs treatment to this flop
Alongside Archer eyeing the exit door, it does look very like that Ben Brereton Diaz will be on the move this summer.
Unlike Downs, who has been handed a golden second chance, the Saints are very ready to wash their hands of the forgotten Chilean, who has zero goals for the South Coast giants from 15 appearances.
At 27 years of age, there's very little to gain by keeping him around, as his continued poor performances in front of goal, if he were kept around, would mean Downs - who is 22 - would have fewer chances to impress and he still has lots more to give as a promising future gem, away from the ex-Blackburn Rovers nuisance.
With the likes of Sheffield United keen on snapping him up, having got six Premier League goals out of him once upon time, selling him does seem to be the best next move.
Brereton Diaz would welcome this switch, as well, having previously been noted as stating that he "really enjoyed" calling South Yorkshire home.
He will be praying an exit route to the Blades opens up, therefore, so he can breathe life back into his waning playing days.
While the Saints' patience with Brereton Diaz is now non-existent, they are more willing to play the long game with Downs, with his competitive duck hopefully broken next month to justify all the trust put into him.
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