When Hearts snapped up Claudio Braga for £400,000 from the little-known Aalesunds FK in the Norwegian second division, it's unlikely anyone would have predicted that his name would be renowned among football fans across the globe a few short months later.
Nor would many have tipped Hearts, without a league title in 40 years, to be sitting pretty ahead of Glaswegian giants Celtic and Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Yet football's a funny old game and, as we near the festive period, this is indeed the case.