Sunderland's years of overspending on underwhelming talent have been firmly put behind them and since making their return to the second tier, have altered their transfer strategy.
The Black Cats have one eye on the future when shopping for players in today's market, predominantly spending their cash on youngsters with a point to prove, as opposed to senior talent who are on the decline.
Daniel Ballard, Jobe Bellingham and Jack Clarke are three prime examples of the astute business being pieced together at the Stadium of Light – all aged 23 and under upon arrival – and now form the spine of their promotion ambitions.
It hasn't always been sailing, though, and on their downward spiral that saw them drop into League One in 2018, Sunderland saw a number of players depart in what was an anticipated fire sale.
While this damning relegation meant the club could reset and release some of their highest earners, including Didier Ndong and Jack Rodwell, they were forced into selling their hottest prospects as 19-year-old Joel Asoro departed for Swansea City and 20-year-old Josh Maja was snapped up by Bordeaux in January.
How much did Sunderland sell Josh Maja for?
A gut-wrenching relegation to League One saw a number of their senior players cower under the pressure of being held accountable and instead, it was some of Sunderland's hottest prospects who shone in the face of adversity, with Maja rising to prominence as a shining star.
In a challenging few years for the club, Maja used Sunderland's turmoil as fuel to showcase his capabilities as a clinical finisher and although only scoring once in 17 Championship appearances didn't accentuate those talents, a drop into the third tier saw the youngster's goal-scoring exploits really come to light.
Described by journalist Nicolas le Gardien as "clinical", the highly-rated striker lit up the League One touch paper by becoming a deadly finisher, terrorising defences on a weekly basis and posting an exceptional 15 goals in 24 matches.
Maja was dynamite in the first half of the campaign and European clubs quickly picked up on his talents as French giants Bordeaux ultimately snapped him up for £1.5m, a fee dubbed by chairman Stewart Donald at the time as a "bad deal".
The youngster was out of contract in the summer and Jack Ross was forced to sell him for a cut price, knowing his potential meant he would have been worth far more as Sunderland were made to pay for their lack of organisation.
To make matters worse, it cost more than double that to sign replacement Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic as a fee of £4m emphasised how the club dramatically failed in the transfer market during that period. This was certainly bad business all round.
Where is Josh Maja now?
At Bordeaux, Maja's goal-scoring exploits weren't as prevalent in Ligue 1 and the forward struggled for consistency against players of a higher calibre, mustering just nine goals in 47 appearances in France's top division.
In their attempts to sharpen up his tools in front of goal, he was loaned out on two occasions, once to Fulham in the Premier League in the 2020/21 season, where he was described by manager Scott Parker as "very impressive", and then he was shipped out to Stoke City in the Championship a season later.
Despite only managing to score five goals in 32 appearances across those loan spells, Maja was a finisher with unfinished business and following Bordeaux's relegation to Ligue 2 in 2022, the striker began to flourish under manager David Guion, who directed high praise towards him, saying: "I've rarely seen a striker so clinical in front of goal."
Enjoying his best scoring form since arriving at the club, the 5 foot 11 marksman chalked up an impressive 16 goals and six assists as his side narrowly missed out on promotion, with the Super Eagle soon embarking on the next chapter of his career.
Leaving the club on a free transfer to join Championship side West Brom this summer, Maja is still waiting to make his first start for the club and is currently sidelined with an injury till November.