Derby County's financial woes now seem to be a thing of the past, with the Rams at one stage in danger of going out of business before the long-established EFL club was saved from that possible peril.
Relegated to League One at the height of their previous demise, Paul Warne looks to have assembled a side now ready to clinch promotion back up to the Championship this season.
Still, there are plenty of players that have been offloaded during an up-and-down few years in Derbyshire that the Rams will regret letting go of.
One of those that will conjure up some regret will be former club captain Tom Lawrence leaving the club, the dynamic winger once purchased for a reported bumper fee of £7m to become a star at Pride Park before leaving on a free transfer in 2022.
Tom Lawrence's time at Derby
Signing Lawrence for £7m back in 2017 might well have raised a few eyebrows, considering the 5 foot 11 winger had failed to make the grade at Manchester United after developing in the Red Devils academy, but it was a buy that paid off for the Rams over a number of impactful seasons.
Lawrence would manage to make it into double digits with his goal output in two out of four campaigns playing for Derby, firing in 11 goals from 38 Championship appearances during his final season for the Rams.
The Welshman was a rare ray of light for the Rams during that relegation campaign, with Derby deducted a staggering total of 21 points over the 46 games owing to their worrying financial issues.
Once described as a "wonderful" player by football journalist Josh Bunting when donning a Derby strip, Lawrence would bow out from the League One club with 62 combined goals and assists from 185 total appearances.
It did feel as if it was a matter of time, however, from a Derby perspective, until a higher-up club would come in and poach Lawrence knowing they could land the exciting attacking midfielder on the cheap.
Rangers would bide their time and sign Lawrence at the expiry of his contract, with the Rams devastatingly losing their £7m star buy for free.
Tom Lawrence's time at Rangers
Lawrence has found the transition to Scottish football a bumpy one however ever since leaving behind Derbyshire for Ibrox, only amassing two assists this season from 17 matches.
Season
Games played
Goals
Assists
2023-24
17
0
2
2022-23
10
3
2
Stats by Transfermarkt
His transfer value, according to Football Transfers, is also now way off the reported hefty £7m price-tag that once was above his head – the 30-year-old is now worth a meagre €0.6m (£513k) as his career begins to gradually wind down.
No longer playing the role of being a star man away from Pride Park, Lawrence has become a bit-part player up in Glasgow with Derby able to get over the loss of their ex-hero quickly courtesy of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and other key performers.
Still, paying well over the odds at £7m for Lawrence in 2017 gives some major insight as to what the haphazard mentality at Derby was like to contribute to their financial issues eventually spiralling out of control.
Whilst Lawrence aims to spark into life for Rangers this season, Derby's sole aim will be returning to the Championship come the end of the campaign where the 30-year-old once dazzled opposition defences for fun playing for the Rams.