It appears there are going to be plenty of reunions between Burton Albion and their former players in League One next season.
The latest Brewer to join a third-tier rival is Hope Akpan, who has signed a two-year deal at Bradford City after deciding not to take up a new contract with Albion.
Burton were keen to keep the Nigeria international at the Pirelli Stadium as they target an immediate return to the Championship - and Nigel Clough had suggested he could be "a major player" for them.
That much had been shown during a dominant run of form towards the end of the season, when he became a standout performer in a dynamic midfield trio, following an inconsistent and sometimes ineffective first half of 2017-18, not helped by his signing late in pre-season.
Another season of Akpan's driving forward runs at the Pirelli was not to be, with the 26-year-old becoming the Bantams' ninth signing of the summer.
He joins Tom Naylor in deciding to leave Albion at the end of his contract this off-season.
Naylor has moved to Portsmouth, another team seemingly building for a tilt at promotion into the Championship.
The former Derby County man had become a staple of Burton's defence after three seasons in their midfield, and would likely have been the same again in League One.
Burton Albion catch-up
Tom Flanagan, meanwhile, is preparing for the 2018-19 campaign with Sunderland, having joined the Black Cats after being transfer-listed by Burton following their relegation in May.
Sunderland and Portsmouth are among the early favourites for promotion next season, while Akpan's Bradford will also fancy building on a 2017-18 season in which they held a top-six place until a post-Christmas slump.
It will be interesting to see how each of the moves work out for that trio of now ex-Brewers.
It is certainly possible that each could be battling it out with their former side for the same League One goal at the business end of the campaign.
That is what they all will hope.
All parties here are beginning the season with ambitions of breaking into the second tier.
Naylor and Flanagan have both spoken about their desire to get back into the Championship with their new sides after dropping out of it with their old one.
Akpan has spent the majority of his career in the Championship with Reading, Blackburn Rovers and Burton, so he will be striving to return to that level as soon as possible too.
Whether those players saw their promotion chances as being heightened elsewhere, only they could answer.
Myriad reasons go in to a player's decision to move clubs.
While sides with similar ambitions to Burton have bolstered their ranks for the gruelling campaign ahead, Clough's side have, for now at least, seen their numbers depleted.
It was inevitable that the playing staff would have to be streamlined after relegation, of course, and Clough has spoken about working with around 18 outfield players next season, including a clutch of their up-and-coming youngsters, who will be keen to impress and gain greater game time in 2018-19.
But the Brewers boss wanted to maintain the bulk of his squad from the second tier, feeling they had shown in the late stages of last season what they were capable of if kept together.
There is still a spine there at the Pirelli, but the depth has been impacted with Akpan and Naylor's moves, and that is something they will be trying to address in the transfer market.
Replacing that departed duo is crucial, because Albion are lacking options in midfield, an area they are focusing on in this window.
