Marc Pugh was a fine servant of AFC Bournemouth, spending nine years on the south coast and overseeing the club's impressive rise to the Premier League.

Joining from then-League Two outfit Hereford United for a £100,000 compensation fee, something that was labelled at the time by Chairman Jeff Mostyn as 'excessive', the Englishman became an instant hit at the Vitality Stadium.

Straight from the start of his career with the Cherries, he was a key player and recorded an exceptional 23 goal contributions in 41 League One appearances, guiding them to a play-off spot.

Although they eventually lost out to Huddersfield Town in the play-off semi-final, getting into the top six in the first place was a huge achievement for a side that had only just been promoted to the third tier and the 34-year-old was crucial in solidifying their place in League One in the following years.

Also recording over 40 league appearances in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons, his six goals and ten assists in the latter were crucial in helping Eddie Howe's men reach the Championship.

And after registering 84 second-tier displays in the following two campaigns, he proved to be just as important in a higher tier as a regular starter and achieved a dream goal in getting the Cherries to the top tier of English football.

Although he played a smaller role in the south-coast outfit's success in the Premier League, he still chipped in with the odd goal until he was loaned out to Championship side Hull City for the second half of the 2018/19 campaign.

He scored three times in 14 appearances for the Tigers and certainly didn't disgrace himself at the MKM Stadium, but this wasn't enough to earn him a new contract with Bournemouth as he was released that summer, bringing the curtain down on a successful nine years there with two promotions on his CV.

Considering the Cherries were still in the Premier League at the time though, perhaps his departure was to be expected and he moved to the capital to join Queens Park Rangers in the second tier in July 2019.

Bagging two goals and three assists in 27 games, he may have been in touching distance of earning an extension on his deal, but it wasn't meant to be due to the west London side's finances and departed the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in June 2020 after coming to a 'mutual agreement' with the club.

He returned to professional football four months later and dropped down another division with Shrewsbury Town after signing a short-term contract in Shropshire, but only made eight appearances during his time and was released in January of this year.

Unfortunately, he is yet to find a new club at 34, but has decided to move back up north with his family and may potentially find another club there if he wants to continue playing the game.

Last week, he gave a talk to Swansea City's young players on nutrition, potentially signalling that he will remain in the game even after his playing career ends.

Could a career in coaching potentially be on the horizon? Perhaps not, he's a qualified nutrition advisor, but he could still be useful at a football club in those terms.