When Lille sold Nicolas Pepe and Rafael Leao in the summer, the fans feared that their club was losing two irreplaceable assets.
However, thanks to the shrewd work of sporting director Luiz Campos, they now have an attacking talent who looks every bit as capable as those who departed.
At just 20 years old, and with six Ligue 1 goals to his credit in just 700 minutes on the field, Victor Osimhen has quickly established himself as one of the young players to watch in Europe this season.
What's more, Lille made approximately €109m (£97m/$119m) by selling Pepe and Leao to Arsenal and AC Milan, respectively.
Osimhen was snapped up from Charleroi for just €12m (£15.5m/$13m), with the potential for a further €2m (£1.8m/$2.2m) to follow in bonuses.
The Nigerian scored 12 times in 25 top-flight appearances in Belgium last term, after previously failing to make the grade at Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg.
However, it now seems that both clubs may have underestimated a player who has made the most decisive start to a Ligue 1 career since Neymar.
Osimhen's rise to prominence has taken everyone by surprise, though.
After all, we are talking about a young man who lost his mother early in life and used to scavenge for football boots in a dump as a child.
“It was survival,” he told France Football. “Sometimes you found yourself with a right-footed Nike boot then you’d have to look for the other foot... Finally, you find a left boot and it’s a Reebok!
“My brother sold sports newspapers, my sister, oranges in the street, and me, bottled water in Lagos in the middle of the traffic.
“Part of my life has been a struggle to survive. But that's what made me all I am today. Each event created my personality.”
Even a bout of malaria, which played a role in failed trials with Club Brugge and Zulte Waregem, could not stop his push to the top, and the determination required to beat that illness and return to the elite level oozes through his performances.
For Osimhen, Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Chelsea is the biggest game yet of his fledgling career – and not least because he’s previously been compared to a Stamford Bridge legend.
“I’m sure he’s going to be a phenomenon,” Charleroi goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau told Voix du Nord back in August. “I’d compare him to Didier Drogba. He really makes me think of him. He has the same profile. He can do everything and he’s phenomenally powerful.”
Drogba, of course, started out in France, though it was not until he was 24 and playing with Guingamp that his career really took off, leading to a season in Marseille and two spells that Chelsea that wrote him into the club's history, notably scoring the penalty that won the Blues the 2012 Champions League.
If Osimhen can be compared to the Ivory Coast great, it is best to equate him with the raw form of Drogba, the one who played at Stade du Roudourou and the Velodrome.
He does not yet have the muscular physique that Drogba boasted at his peak and he has yet to display the same level of aerial prowess.
However, Osimhen has the same relentless determination and keen eye for goal.
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There were certainly hints of a young Drogba on show just 19 minutes into his competitive debut, when he chested down a long ball forward from Jose Fonte, showed the Nantes defence a clean pair of heels, and then rolled home a composed finish.
Ten minutes from time in the same match, he was equally clinical, lashing home a powerful shot from a tight angle into the roof of the goal.
Lille boss Christophe Galtier has already admitted that he fears his side are becoming too reliant on a youngster who is fast becoming their talisman.
Following the weekend’s draw with Nice, he grumbled: “We were too gentle offensively. We’ve not played to win. It’s as if the players are resting on Victor.”
Osimhen's six goals account for more than half his side’s tally of 12 in Ligue 1, and when one considers that he has chipped in with a couple of assists too, there is little doubt that he is amply filling the void the summer transfer market imposed upon the team.
“He’s started at a very high level,” Galtier said before last month's 1-1 draw against Rennes, during which the Nigeria international grabbed an assist. “I hope for him and the team it continues.
“In general, when a team has a good season, one player is a revelation. And, automatically, when an attacker is decisive regularly, the team is powerful.”
If he continues along this path, Lille will struggle to hold onto him for more than a season – let along the duration of his five-year contract.
Osimhen already looks a player purpose built for Premier League play. His raw assets are formidable, possessing that priceless instinct of getting into goalscoring positions, and even in the areas where there is room for development, he has already demonstrated that he has the capacity to progress.
For now, the standard of Drogba is some way off, but there is no doubt that his start in France proves that he’s working along the correct lines.
If he could make his mark against the team that his fellow African carried to Champions League glory, it would be another step on his own unique path to potential greatness.