For Cristiano Ronaldo - and, more pertinently, for Jorge Mendes - the great Juventus gamble looks to be over.
Having picked up four Champions Leagues in five years at Real Madrid, the decision to move the Portuguese to Juventus in 2018 was one that was supposed to further his status at the very top of the world game.
He was already pretty much at the summit of course, but winning a Champions League with a new club would be one thing that his great rival Lionel Messi couldn't do, and you couldn't really see him doing.
At least not in 2018 anyway.
The footballing landscape has changed dramatically since then of course, and continues to do so at an alarming pace, but as Ronaldo prepares to depart Juventus for a new challenge, a new crack at the Champions League, and yes a new lot of money, he isn't exactly leaving many great memories behind in Turin.
Of course he still scored 101 goals and picked up two Serie A titles, but winning Serie A is what Juventus always do anyway, they had done that in each of the seven seasons prior to Ronaldo's arrival.
The Champions League was the one they wanted, having only done that twice in their history and not since 1996.
Yet in Ronaldo's three seasons at the club they have not come anywhere near, suffering damaging and sometimes unexpected defeats along the way.
In 2018-19 there was the quarter-final defeat to Ajax, with a 2-1 home defeat in the second leg seeing Ronaldo storm off the pitch at full-time and angrily point the finger at some of his teammates.
A year on they were out a round earlier, losing on away goals to Lyon as Ronaldo was again left bemoaning the efforts of his teammates and the soon to be departing manager Maurizio Sarri.
Then last season came another round of 16 loss, this time to Porto as the club from Ronaldo's homeland progressed on away goals after a thrilling tie. Manager Andrea Pirlo was out soon after that, too.
The forward was still scoring goals and still inspiring the almost-comebacks in these games, but to some he simply wasn't doing enough.
"Juventus signed him to win the Champions League, but they've done worse with him than they've done before," the former Real Madrid and Italy forward Antonio Cassano, one of Ronaldo's fiercest critics, said to Corriere dello Sport in February.
"They'd also have won the Scudetto without him. I think he's been a failure.
"He'll keep scoring goals because he knows how to do that no matter what. He'll cut in from the left, get the ball on his right foot and fire it in. His headers are unique.
"But Pirlo wants to build the play, pressure the opposition and play between the lines, and this means Cristiano doesn't participate much.
"I think he will have done badly unless they manage to win the Champions League."
Cassano then doubled down a month later, saying : "If you sell Cristiano, there's €100 million with which you can sign a couple of top players.
"You can't have a coach who wants to play football with Cristiano Ronaldo. He's a brake on Pirlo.
"Cristiano only thinks about his goals and records. If you're president and you want to start a new cycle, you cannot give a rookie coach the responsibility of coaching someone like Ronaldo."
Former Juve chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli - who was in the position between 2006 and 2009 - also joined the ranks of those criticising the move earlier this week, again citing the way Ronaldo plays.
"I've always been honest: signing Ronaldo was a mistake. It's impossible to recoup the investment and it will remain that way," he told SerieANews .
"He's a great player, but I have to be honest – the sooner he leaves, the better for him and for Juventus.
"Ronaldo hampers Juventus' attack. Without him, they can do excellent things in collective terms."
So has Ronaldo's desire for another Champions League hampered the club he plays for and the players he plays with?
Manchester City, another club where the Champions League dream is king, could be about to find out.
