This time last year, Derby County's relegation to League One had prompted expectations that Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight would make an exit to a club in the Championship or above.
Ultimately, the Dubliner stayed with the Rams in the English third tier last season and was even deployed out of position at right-back earlier in the campaign.
But the 22-year-old is being tipped more intensely with a move away, with reports that a £2m (€2.3m) transfer to Championship Bristol City is imminent.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, former Ireland midfielder Keith Treacy said the most important thing for Knight would be the game-time that would come his way.
"At Jason's age, he needs to be playing football whether that's in League One, Championship or the Premier League, he just needs to play games," he said.
"If you're playing, you have half a chance of getting into the Irish team, it really doesn't matter what level it is at the minute.
"We're not the team we were 10-15 years ago where you had to be in the Championship or the Premier League to be playing.
"So the big thing for any Irish player looking to get into the team - the likes of Troy Parrott and anybody who is on the fringes - is to play games."
Treacy pointed to the example of Nathan Collins, whose transfer to Wolves last summer did not work out before making another big money switch to fellow Premier League side Brentford last week.
"It didn't turn out to be a great move," Treacy said of how things panned out for the defender at Wolves.
"You have to play football. (Chiedozie) Ogbene as well has got a really good move to Luton but it's only going to be a good move if he plays.
"So all of a sudden we're looking at the Irish team and we have a few that are playing in the Premier League or have Premier League teams next to their names.
"But that's no good if they're not playing. They need to be playing. So for me, Jason Knight, it doesn't really matter what team he's at as long as he's playing week in, week out."
Former St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne manager Johnny McDonnell also told the podcast that Knight joining Bristol City may be opportune right now given the ambitions of the Robins' owner as related to him by his ex-Saints team-mate and former Ireland defender Curtis Fleming, who is currently assistant manager at the club.
"We talk to Curtis on a regular basis and (Bristol City) are going to have a push for next season," he said.
"The club is great there he said and the chairman is going to try and push, so it could be a good move for Knight to go there.
"(Curtis) said it's a good club and there's good investment going into the place so it might be the right move for him at the right time."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Watch Shamrock Rovers v Breidablik on Tuesday night from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
