Premier League one to watch: Bournemouth and Scotland winger Matt Ritchie
Nobody envisaged the immediate impact that promoted trio Danny Ings, Charlie Austin and Jamie Vardy would make in the Premier League last season.
Ings has recently joined Liverpool from Burnley, relegated QPR are demanding £15m for 18-goal Austin and Vardy is now a senior England international.
One player hoping to enjoy a similarly dramatic rise next term is Bournemouth and Scotland wide man, Matt Ritchie. The left-footed, right winger with an eye for goal, ferocious pace and pin-point crossing ability was deservedly named in last season's Championship team of the season.
A product of Portsmouth's academy from the age of 13, it may come as a surprise that 25 year-old Ritchie has already made his Premier League bow, under Avram Grant in April 2010.
A fresh faced 20 year-old, bouncing with confidence following loan spells with League Two champions Notts County and League One high-flyers Swindon, he featured twice for Pompey towards the end of their disastrous relegation campaign. Little did he know, it would take more than five years for another taste of England's prestigious top flight.
Ritchie's journey back to the top has been somewhat unconventional and thrown up several obstacles along the way, making last season's dramatic rise at Bournemouth even more eye-catching.
Alongside Charlie Austin, he was crucial to Swindon's unlikely march towards the 2010 League One play-off final. Manager Danny Wilson tried desperately to make Ritchie a permanent signing that summer, only for the Gosport-born youngster to follow his heart and stay put. Since joining Pompey's youth academy, it was always his dream to represent the club he grew up cheering on from the stands.
But Premier League relegation at Fratton Park would prove the first of several unfortunate setbacks during his early twenties. Pompey boss Steve Cotterill started recruiting more experienced players in Ritchie's favoured position five games into their Championship campaign. Reluctantly, after dropping to the bench, he joined Swindon with a "heavy heart' for £200,000.
Not for the first time, Ritchie was forced to take one step back and yet another painful blow was imminent. Swindon sacked Wilson weeks after his arrival and replacement Paul Hart, everyone's go-to survival 'expert' back then, fared even worse. The club went tumbling into League Two, star striker Charlie Austin had already been sold to Burnley, and the future for Ritchie must have seemed rather bleak.
Disregarded by his beloved Pompey and immediately relegated from League One in a matter of months, he plunged from the glitz of Premier League football into England's fourth tier in little over 12 months. It would have proved a cruel blow too far for many 21 year-olds, but Ritchie's fortunes were soon revived by the appointment of a colourful Italian.
Under Paolo di Canio's stewardship, he quickly developed into one of the most exciting prospects anywhere in England's lower leagues. The Robins stormed League Two in 2011/12, winning the title with 93 points and Ritchie – chipping in with ten goals and 14 assists – emerged as Swindon's inspirational talisman. By December 2012, he'd already bagged nine goals in League One, forcing Di Canio to jokingly claim his star man was worth at least £15m.
If that comment was intended to deter potential suitors, the Italian's tactic backfired rather spectacularly. One of Richie's man-of-the-match performances at the County Ground came against high-flying Bournemouth in September, his brace contributing to a resounding 4-0 victory. It was enough for the wealthy Cherries board to make a £500,000 bid for his services that Swindon simply couldn't turn away.
Di Canio resigned in protest almost immediately after Ritchie's sale, reportedly sanctioned without his knowledge let alone consent. Five months later, Bournemouth were promoted to the Championship and their new winger picked up League One's player of the year award, twelve months after clinching the equivalent League Two gong.
The Cherries consolidated their status in England's second tier with an impressive 10th spot finish in 2013/14, and for Ritchie, who scored nine goals in 30 games, it was another important step towards what proved a remarkable 2014/15.
Last season, he contributed to 32 goals for the Championship title winners, scoring 15 and creating another 17. He was directly involved in more goals than any other player outside the Premier League, and received a surprise phone call in March, as Bournemouth surged towards promotion.
"Are you Scottish? Do you feel Scottish?" Gordon Strachan asked. The answer to both was a resounding "yes" and Ritchie, thanks to his Edinburgh-born father, made an international debut in the friendly against Northern Ireland.
He scored his first Scotland goal against Qatar earlier this month, and was trusted with a starting role for the crucial qualifier in the Republic of Ireland. With the Scots impressively poised in their group and Bournemouth now a Premier League club, you wouldn't bet against Ritchie featuring at Euro 2016 next summer.
It would be a fitting reward for the man overlooked by his boyhood club, the Championship's top scoring midfielder last season, averaging a shot on goal every 25 minutes, who created more than two clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities per game, and pulled off 81 key passes.
In 12 months time, when we reflect on Bournemouth's first ever Premier League campaign, who knows how much their £500,000 signing will be worth by then?
Stats courtesy of oulala.com