Jermaine Beckford's move from Leicester City has been inevitable for some time.
In fact, it is a surprise it has taken this long for the 29-year-old to move on after manager Nigel Pearson made it abundantly clear Beckford did not feature in his plans last summer.
Despite a decent run of goalscoring form in the second half of the 2011-12 season, in which he scored 13 goals in 22 appearances, Beckford just did not fit into Pearson's vision as he reshaped his City side.
Although he made a few appearances at the start of last season, without scoring, he spent practically the entire campaign on loan at Hudders-field.
Considering the amount paid for his services when Sven-Goran Eriksson was in charge two years ago, believed to be £3million, Beckford's time at City must be seen as a flop.
And not just for City, but for Beckford as well, whose stock was reasonably high after his time at Everton.
The most important aspect of this sale has been freeing up Beckford's considerable wages, believed to be close to £30,000 a week, to allow Pearson to add to his squad.
That is an indication of how different the landscape is now in the Championship since the big-spending days of Eriksson.
But while Beckford's time at City has not borne the fruit many hoped, was he really that bad and is it all his fault? Beckford certainly cannot be blamed for the fee City paid for him, or the wages he was offered to pull on the blue shirt.
That financial outlay demands results and brings its own pressure, and Beckford was certainly confident he could carry the burden.
City were hoping they had signed that elusive 20-goal a season man to fire them into the Premier League and Beckford had surpassed that target in 2007-08, scored 34 the following year, and 31 in the 2009-10 campaign. Admittedly, they were all in League One, but it was a phenomenal strike-rate, which prompted Everton to take the gamble and throw him into the Premier League, where he scored eight goals in 15 starts and 19 substitute appearances.
But at Championship level, Beckford was an unknown quantity and although he scored 15 times in his first season, six of them came in City's run to the FA Cup quarter-finals. He scored only twice in his first 20 games as Eriksson's new-look, star-studded City side struggled to gel.
Beckford scored nine times in 22 appearances in a struggling Huddersfield side last season, suggesting he could score more in a better side.
Bolton boss Dougie Freedman certainly thinks so. He remembers Beckford for his free-scoring exploits when he played alongside him at Leeds, which has prompted his move.
Who knows, he may be the man to bring the best out of Beckford.
But he never fulfilled that potential at City and his brief time at the club will always be regarded as disappointing.
