There's no doubting that Lee Cattermole was an excellent servant to Sunderland over the years, in a spell which lasted ten years at the Stadium of Light.
But the midfielder made the bold decision to leave the club following their unsuccessful attempt at winning promotion back into the Championship at the first time of asking after a defeat to Charlton Athletic in the League One Play-Off Final at Wembley.
Cattermole made over 200 appearances for the Black Cats, with the majority coming in the Premier League when Sunderland fans had plenty to cheer about.
But the last three seasons have been hugely frustrating for everyone associated with the club, with Sunderland being relegated into the third tier of English football relatively quickly.
Cattermole clearly thought that this was the right time to move on, as he looked towards a new challenge in the future.
Many of the Stadium of Light faithful might have thought that he could do a job in English football still, but Cattermole headed over to the Netherlands to play for VVV-Venlo.
He has since gone on to make nine league appearances for the Dutch side, as they currently sit 17th in the top-flight after 12 games.
With his side sat second from bottom in the league table, VVV-Venlo will be counting on Cattermole to use his experience of similar situations with Sunderland to their benefit this season.
One thing that hasn't changed with Cattermole is his somewhat poor disciplinary record, with the tough-tackling midfielder already being booked three times this season for his new club.
At the age of 31, he'll feel as though he's still got something to offer at a high level, and will be keen to get as much game time under his belt as the season heads towards the potentially season-defining festive period.
Sunderland are struggling to find some consistency in their performances this season under Phil Parkinson, and it begs the question as to whether the newly-appointed boss could benefit from having a player of Cattermole's experience in their squad this season.