Youssef Safri arrived at St Mary’s, a closet Saints fan. As he explained to Bob Brunskell, for the match-day programme, he had followed their fortunes from his home in Casablanca,

when his compatriots, Hassan Kachloul and Tahar El Khalej, were in turn playing in the Premiership for Southampton. Not only had Youssef won three championships in a row for his home-town Raja Casablanca, he arrived in Southampton with 56 caps to his name, making him the most-capped player in Morocco’s then side.

His performances in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney impressed scouts from Coventry City, whose manager, Gordon Strachan, signed him, the following summer. After three seasons of second-tier football with them, he joined newly promoted Norwich for a Premier League season, at the end of which the Canaries went down with the Saints. So when he moved again, in 2007, he was swapping one Championship side for another. As a play-maker, sitting deep in midfield, Youssef started more games than any team-mate in 2007-08, initially under George Burley and then under Nigel Pearson. Relegation was avoided, but Pearson did not survive the summer’s change of chairmanship, which heralded an emphasis on youth, under Dutch management. This was no place for a 30 year-old Moroccan, who found a more productive environment – in terms both of profile and earnings – in the Gulf.