Many eyebrows were raised when Kurt Zouma swapped Stamford Bridge for a trip over to the London Stadium during the summer.
Sure, the Frenchman had slipped down the pecking order with the Blues but a departure to their lesser regarded neighbours in the east of the capital was perceived as a big downgrade.
Zouma had, after all, shown bursts of extreme promise with Chelsea and performed brightly in periods which had gone unhindered by persistent injuries.
Nonetheless, Zouma's mind was set.
The 27-year-old defender - who once publicly admitted he was aiming to one day win the Ballon d'Or - had decided that David Moyes' Hammers were the team with which he would begin his rising-from-the-ashes act.