Although Mario Lemina started his professional career in French football it was while he was on the books of Juventus he came to prominence as part of the squad that won the domestic double two seasons on the trot. That pedigree persuaded Southampton to part with more than £15m to acquire his services and the fans were told the club had signed a tough-tackling, tenacious and energetic box-to-box midfielder who could pick a pass.

There was quite a lot of truth in the sales pitch because the Gabon international, on his day, would exhibit all these features and more, but the trouble was there was little consistency and at times even less desire. Having ability and not always applying it is not a characteristic that endears players to British football crowds and the St Mary’s faithful began to lose patience with Lemina’s “blowing hot and cold” performances, particularly when one came in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea at Wembley.

Ralph Hasenhuttl too, was not the sort of manager to stand for any nonsense. Mario’s off-field activities and social media profile raised further question marks about his commitment and he spent the third and fourth years of his five-year contract out on loan, firstly in Turkey and then in west London where he was part of the Fulham team that were relegated from the Premier League. There were hopes that he would perhaps knuckle down back at Southampton for his final year, but – despite the manager later claiming he wanted Lemina to stay – enough of the bridge had been burnt for that not to have been a serious consideration and he returned to French football for a fee reputed to be less than a third of Southampton’s original outlay.