Last January, when the transfer window was open, West Ham United made a bold move to bring the Preston North End striker, Jordan Hugill, to the club.
At the time, the Hammers were floundering in the lower reaches of the Premier League and that dreaded word, relegation, was at the forefront of our thoughts.
The arrival of Hugill was a ploy that was, it was hoped, bring us the goals to pull clear of the relegation pack, sadly, it wasn’t to be.
The 26-year-old striker failed to make an impact and his appearances were few and far between and Hugill failed to get on the score-sheet.
Now whether things would have been different if he’d been given some first-team action I guess we’ll never know.
But, on the back of a failure to make that breakthrough, Hugill has been deemed surplus to requirements and yesterday it was confirmed by the BBC that the striker has signed a season-long loan deal with the Championship side, Middlesbrough.
For Hugill, it is something of a dream move with the striker having been born in Middlesbrough.
Now, whether the move back to his home-town club will kick-start his career remains to be seen.
But, here at Vital West Ham, we’ll keep an eye on his progress and, of course, we wish him every success for the coming season.