Sheffield United may be wondering what could have been had Aaron Ramsdale not left the club.
Released by the Bolton Wanderers academy, Ramsdale was given a second chance with the Blades. When Chris Wilder became manager in 2016 he promoted the goalkeeper to the first team.
Just 18-years-old at the time, Ramsdale did still have to make the most of a place on the bench behind number one Simon Moore.
Wilder did give him a chance in the FA Cup, with the teenager playing in both of their games in the competition. Clearly it was enough to impress Bournemouth, who paid around £1m to sign Ramsdale in January 2017.
According to the Daily Mail the stopper wanted to stay at Bramall Lane. Yet for United – who were in League One at the time – that sort of offer is presumably too good to turn down.
Ramsdale could solve a potentially big problem for the Blades
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Ramsdale still had to wait for his chance in the Premier League. Loan spells back in the lower leagues with Chesterfield and AFC Wimbledon followed.
However, having given another youngster in Mark Travers a chance at the end of last term, Cherries manager Eddie Howe decided it was Ramsdale’s time at the beginning of 2019/20.
The 21-year-old was handed his top flight debut on the opening day. Fittingly it came against United. And Ramsdale has played every minute of the league campaign since.
An England Under-21 international, inevitably there is now talk of a senior call-up. It means there are plenty of similarities between Ramsdale and Blades loanee, Dean Henderson.
Henderson has been brilliant for Wilder over the past two seasons since first joining on loan from Manchester United.
Signing the 22-year-old permanently next summer would be the ideal outcome for the Blades. But Henderson is, rightfully, ambitious and told the Mirror recently it is his dream to play for the Man United first team.
So Wilder could be on the hunt for a new stopper – and Ramsdale would have been the perfect candidate.