If you saw a player over the age of 30 playing in an academy game, you could be forgiven for assuming they were there to regain fitness after injury.
But there's a growing trend in football that is seeing clubs sign senior players who will never play in the first team, but will instead nurture their up-and-coming talent.
Manchester United have signed Paul McShane, Southampton have brought in Olly Lancashire and Gary Dicker has arrived at Brighton.
All three previously played for their present employers and all three are utilised as support players or player-coaches. Their job as senior professionals - with hundreds of games under their belts - is to pass on knowledge and experience to young players starting their journey.