When Southampton were looking to strengthen their push for automatic promotion in January 2024 they turned to Bournemouth to bring in two players on loan. One was David Brooks the other was Joe Rothwell, a midfielder who had arrived at Dean Court in June 2022 after running down his contract at Ewood Park. Coming on as a first-half substitute to make his home debut he hit an absolute stunner of a goal vs Huddersfield which later won the Sky Bet Championship Goal of the Month for February. Despite this auspicious start he struggled to impress and ended up making only four starts during the remainder of the season with three times as many appearances off the bench. In the ensuing summer he made another loan move to Leeds and helped them gain promotion back to the Premier League. Surprisingly, although Russell Martin didn’t consider him good enough for a regular place in Saints’ Championship side, he was one of the first players he bought having been appointed Rangers’ new manager in the summer of 2025.