After “a lot of hassle and haggling”, as Chairman Rupert Lowe saw it, Southampton eventually paid £250,000 to acquire 18 year-old Yoann Folly from St Etienne –

“a hot young prospect,” the website editor, Graham Hiley, assured his readers. It “should be worth it,” the Chairman reckoned, as the French-born, Togolese defensive midfielder was “very strong with quick feet.”

Having been used as a Reserve by Steve Wigley, Yoann started the last nine games of the 2003-04 season for the incoming manager, Paul Sturrock. He retained his place for the opening game of the next season, but Sturrock promptly departed; and neither the returning Wigley nor Harry Redknapp showed any desire, in the unsuccessful struggle against relegation, to nurture the talent that the Chairman had identified. Upon succeeding Redknapp, George Burley would give Yoann a Championship start and bring him off the bench in an FA Cup-tie, before selling him to Sheffield Wednesday, by then managed by Sturrock.

There can be no doubting that Sturrock rated the lad. He took Yoann to Plymouth and, in 2012, offered him a trial at Southend but within weeks he had to retire from professional football after being diagnosed with chronic pulmonary embolism. He attended Sheffield’s Hallam University between 2013 and 2016 studying Business and HR management and in in 2019 was an export administrator at Camira Fabrics Ltd, a Sheffield based textile design company. On the international front after winning 10 caps for France U21, Yoann swopped allegiances and won one full cap for Togo.