The path from Slavia Prague to West Ham United has become a well-trodden one of late, after the Hammers landed young Senegalese international, El Hadji Malick Diouf, to their ranks.
In recent years, both Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek have swapped the Czech league for the English top-flight and have proven to be incredibly successful during their periods in East London.
Diouf following in Soucek and Coufal's footsteps
In Soucek's case he's become something of a cult hero to the London Stadium faithful, and even won the coveted Hammer of the Year award for the 2020/21 campaign.
Fate would also decree that when the Irons won their first major title in over 40 years - the Conference League - the final would be played at Slavia's ground too.
Now it's the turn of 20-year-old Diouf to prove that he's also made of the right stuff in order to succeed in the 'best league in the world.'
"A very physical style"
Flashscore's Jakub Dvorak believes the player has every chance of doing just that.
"Malick is aggressive and tough in duels, tackles well and has a great work rate," he said. "He is used to playing a very physical style which was typical of Slavia manager, Jindrich Trpisovsky. He runs. A lot.
"In the Czech league he impressed with his high speed, dynamism, his offensive work and his shooting ability.
El Hadji Malick Diouf Radar Chart 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform
"He played in the wing-back position in the best team in the league so he didn't have to defend as much and was a more offensive player with a lot of crosses and passes into penalty area. He therefore had decent attacking numbers of course.
"In the Premier League, I think defending can be his weak spot, but he's still a very young player who needs to learn tactics, and quality defending is part of it."
Diouf's "dream" to play in the EPL
Given that the stocky youngster is known to have kept himself in perfect physical condition, it would be a surprise if opposition attackers continued to get the better of him once he's settled in the Premier League.
During his time at Slavia - which only began at the start of 2024 - he has become renowned as a player with a superb engine to get him up and down the pitch from minute one to minute 90.
A player that loves to attack at every opportunity but who is just as happy getting his foot in when required, West Ham fans are almost certainly going to love his full-bloodied commitment to the cause. A cause the player himself is happy to align with.
"It was a good plan for me," he was quoted as saying.
"I want to say to the West Ham supporters I'm very happy to be here with them. I think we'll make a very good season this year.
"Everyone wants to come here to play in the Premier League. I think it is a dream for everyone."
Excellent shooting accuracy and conversion rate
Seven goals and two assists in his 27 Czech First League games last season placed him fourth in the Slavia squad, and that one-in-four ratio in terms of goals scored is a more than acceptable return for a wing-back.
A 57.1% shooting accuracy is only bettered by his teammate, Lukas Provod, and Diouf can lay claim to having the third best conversion rate in the squad too (19.4%).
El Hadji Malick Diouf Recent StatsFlashscore
Provod, again, and Tomas Chory are the only Slavia players to have had more than the youngster's 16 shots on target, whilst Diouf's 1667 touches across the 2024/25 campaign were the third most in the squad and evidence the work rate that Flashscore's Jakub Dvorak refers to.
Whilst his pass completion stat of 75.7% isn't the best, it's still more than acceptable; however, it is still an area of his game that he'll quickly need to improve upon.
El Hadji Malick Diouf Pass Map 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform
That's because only Soucek (74.8%), Alphonse Areola (66.1%), Niclas Fullkrug (67.9%), Michail Antonio (70.8%), Lukasz Fabianski (63.5%) and Danny Ings (71.6%) are worse off - and a number of those players didn't play for West Ham for long periods of the 24/25 season.
If he wants to be a success at his new club it's no good Diouf becoming another 'busy fool' for the Hammers, where he appears to be all-action but when you scratch the surface you find his work isn't actually up to scratch or helping his team to the levels they require.
Nothing less than 100% effort
That said, his 229 one-on-one ground duels and 70 aerial duels attempted suggests that he is a player that likes to get stuck in, and his 34 attempted tackles last season compares favourably to his West Ham counterparts over the same time frame.
If there's one thing they love down at the London Stadium more than anything, it's players who wear their hearts on their sleeve and give it all for the claret and blue cause. The east London faithful know their football and won't accept anything less than 100%.
If Diouf gives the club that every week, then he'll be forgiven for any shortcomings.