After Jay Rodriguez enjoyed a fine season in the Championship for Burnley - in which he scored 15 goals and recorded six assists, including one set-up against Southampton at Turf Moor - Nigel Adkins handed the Clarets £6m for the forward's services in 2012.

In the previous campaign, the Burnley-born striker had scored 14 goals and registered seven assists - 29 goals and 13 assists in two seasons isn't bad going at all, and you can see why Southampton wanted to sign him.

Ultimately, it turned out to be a shrewd move, as the attacker of Spanish heritage netted six Premier League goals along with eight assists in his first season for the club.

However, the next campaign was even better.

With a World Cup on the horizon, the Englishman scored 15 Premier League goals in 33 appearances, making up part of a deadly trio alongside Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert.

Surely, he would have a spot in Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad, right?

Sadly, a serious knee injury suffered in April - just weeks before the tournament began - meant Rodriguez would miss six months of action, despite Hodgson revealing that he was "hoping against hope" that the attacker would be fit.

That cruel moment appeared to make the striker cursed.

He never really got back to his best, failing to score in 12 Premier League appearances following his return to action in 2015/16, before only scoring five league goals the following season - Rodriguez then left for West Brom in a deal worth £12m.

The ex-Barnsley forward scored 35 goals in 126 appearances for Southampton, and eventually netted the club a cool £6m in profit - in that respect, he was a gem of a signing by Adkins.

Ultimately though, it feels like the attacker was cursed in an underlying manner - to have a chance to appear at the World Cup stolen away from you with just five games left of the season is a cruel, cruel blow.

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