Brice Samba was a massive loss to Nottingham Forest this summer.Across three seasons and more than 100 appearances for the then Championship club, Samba established himself as one of English football's most underrated goalkeepers seemingly nailed on to make a name for himself in the Premier League.The Congolese shot-stopper was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year in his first year at the City Ground and famously saved no less than three penalties to send Forest through to the play-off final last season.
Samba's journey from Forest to Lens
As such, fans were absolutely gutted when Samba turned down the chance to sign a new deal at the club this summer and instead opted for a return to French football with Lens.
And while, yes, Forest have managed to replace him rather shrewdly with the loan signing of Manchester United's Dean Henderson, fans will nevertheless be watching Samba's form in France and wondering: what could have been?
Because, to say that Samba has made a strong start to life back in Ligue 1 would be the mother of all understatements with Lens shocking the nation by making a legitimate early title charge.
The former Forest shot-stopper has played every single minute of Lens' remarkable start to the league season, standing between the sticks as Franck Haise's men have secured five wins, two draws and not lost once.
In fact, when Lens secured their latest win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Troyes courtesy of Kevin Danso's first-half winner on Friday, it lifted them to top spot in Ligue 1.
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Samba mugging off Adil Rami
And not only did that furnish Samba with his second clean sheet of the campaign, but it also saw him produce one of the most brilliant pieces of goalkeeping we've seen in a long, long time.
That's because the 28-year-old showed off his talent for one-handed catches when he made Adil Rami - yes, that Adil Rami, the one with the World Cup winners' medal - look like a mug for trying to lob him from his own half.
When the former AC Milan defender smashed an admittedly undercooked punt from one end of the pitch to the other, Samba claimed it with one hand like it was absolutely nothing - class.
So be sure to check out the moment that the Forest hero simultaneously showed off his stunning catching skills and looked like the coolest man on the planet while doing so down below:
Video: Samba's superb one-handed catch in Lens vs Troyes
Fan reaction
Pure coolness from Samba
How on earth do you pull that off one-handed? It just oozes coolness.
It might not have been stung with tonnes of power from Rami's boot, but that doesn't make the nonchalance of Samba not even bothering to use his right hand look any less intimidating.
And it was, if nothing else, illustrative of the confidence that Samba and Lens are feeling right as they look to elevate themselves firmly into European contention this season.
According to the Nottingham Post, Samba told the media after the game: “It's always good to be at the top of the table, even if it's only for 24 hours. It's gratifying and it rewards the work since the start of the season.
"It was not easy against a great team from Troyes but we remember the essentials, namely the three points. They really had a solid, compact block where it was difficult to find the solutions. We tried to do with the means at hand and we scored from a set piece.
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"There will be times when it will be a little less good and when you have to be efficient to take the three points. We will lose one day for sure but we hope as late as possible."
Samba won't be able to achieve success for Lens this season single-handedly, but he can - in fairness - do most everything else on the pitch with just a single hand.