Scott Sinclair and Jamie Vardy both scored goals on Sunday.

The similarity ends there. One typifies the money-grabbing, short-term philosophy that spoils rich-in-promise careers, the other is a shining example to every wannabe footballer.

I remember watching Sinclair for Chelsea in an FA Youth Cup tie at Withdean. He stood out but, like so many others, found a pathway to the first team blocked at Stamford Bridge and moved to Swansea.

He was instrumental in the Welshmen winning promotion from the Championship via the play-offs and starred for them the following season in the Premier League.

He had a bright future ahead of him, then Sinclair made a career-reversing mistake, the kind we see happen time and time again.

At the end of the summer transfer window in 2012 he joined Manchester City with their wads of cash and world stars, deluding himself that he would be a first team regular.

He wasn't. In three seasons at Manchester City he made just two Premier League starts. Loan switches to West Brom and Aston Villa were followed by a permanent departure to Villa.

Sinclair had gone from a progressive club in Swansea to one destined for relegation.

Now he has quit English football to join Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, where the general standard falls somewhere between our Championship and League One (Ben Hall has gone from Motherwell's first team to Albion's under-23s).

In two wonderful seasons with Swansea, Sinclair made 74 league starts. In the four years since he left them he has started only 30 games for four different clubs. He has drifted downhill fast.

When Sinclair was making his name with Swansea, Vardy was playing for Halifax in the Northern Premier League.

His back-story is well-documented, from Fleetwood to Leicester, now Premier League champion and England international.

Even more extraordinary than his rise is the decision he took in June to reject Arsenal's interest and stay with Leicester. How many other players would have done that?

A mug? No, a hero. He has been handsomely rewarded with a new four-year contract but it is doubtful Leicester would outstrip the Gunners in salary terms.

Vardy made his choice partly out of loyalty - rare in itself nowadays - but mainly because he was unconvinced he would fit into Arsenal's contrasting style of play.

In other words, it was a decision made genuinely for football reasons.

Now consider the case of Alex Pritchard and his aborted move to Albion, hijacked at the eleventh hour by Norwich.

It was a tawdry deal - Norwich did not have Tottenham's permission to speak to him according to Albion chief executive Paul Barber at a fans' forum at the Amex last week.

Nothing will be done about it because 'tapping up' players, although theoretically against the rules, is regarded as part and parcel of the game.

Pritchard's behaviour was grubby too. He would have us believe making his bird of choice a Canary rather than a Seagull was "purely a football decision".

Who is he trying to kid? Having agreed personal terms with Albion, his head was turned by a much more lucrative offer from Norwich, rolling in relegation parachute funds.

He saw a flashier car, a bigger house, not a trophy and the regular first team football beyond him at Spurs.

Pritchard may or may not be right in thinking Norwich have more chance of promotion but what about his chances of playing a big part in them getting there?

Chris Hughton (below) had him earmarked at Albion for the No.10 role. Competition for that position is limited to Jamie Murphy and Jiri Skalak, both primarily wingers.

The Argus: At Carrow Road, Pritchard has Wes Hoolahan and Steve Naismith to contend with. Both scored in the opening rout of Blackburn before Pritchard got on for ten minutes in place of Hoolahan.

He is likely to be on the bench more at Norwich than he would have been with Albion.

Cue the justification trotted out routinely without a thought for those paying to watch. It's a short career, got to grab the dosh while you can.

Sorry, that doesn't wash, not when even a player on a modest Championship wage will earn in two-and-a-half-years as much as somebody on a respectable annual salary will in a lifetime.

It will be fascinating to see how Pritchard, still in his early twenties, progresses. The odds are he will end up more like Sinclair than Vardy.