A mere two years ago when Sandro Ramirez first signed for Everton he was hailed as being one of European football's bargain buys of the summer but now the Blues are struggling to give him away.
With a lack of suitors now prepared to take the Spanish striker, he signed up for his third loan spell away from the club joining Real Valladolid on Tuesday evening.
It's all a far cry from the fanfare that greeted his arrival at Goodison Park in the summer of 2017.
Having netted 16 goals in 31 matches for Malaga the previous campaign but possessing a paltry £5.2million release clause, the former Barcelona youngster became one of the game's hottest properties.
Having sent Ronald Koeman and Steve Walsh out to Andalusia to scout the player in person, it was seen as a major coup when Everton finally finally won the race for Sandro's signature ahead of the likes of Atletico Madrid.
Even world-weary cynical supporters were positively giddy.
Here's a selection from just a single article on the ECHO's website.
“We can't lose at that price.”
“Could turn out to be Everton's best signing – a class act.”
“Great signing. A very gifted, complete player.”
“Looks tailor-made for the Premier League.”
“Can't wait to see this lad in action.”
Outspoken talkSPORT presenter Mike Parry embarrassed fellow Blues by declaring on Twitter: "I see Gary Lineker has not responded to my view that Everton signing Sandro Ramirez will be a sensation this season.. maybe 40 goals plus."
While such claims were ridiculous even at the time, there was still a quickening of the pulse for many when Sandro was spotted at Liverpool's dockside Titanic Hotel and then a nervous wait for the deal to be confirmed as he went off to represent his country at the European Under-21 Championship finals where they finished runners-up.
During the tournament, Sandro looked like the kind of narky, hard-working frontman that Evertonians could appreciate and after scoring on his Goodison Park debut against Sevilla in a pre-season friendly, hopes were high for the future.
However, being thrust into a different type of football and culture in a difficult period as manager Koeman's tenure eroded at an alarming rate, Sandro was thrown into the deep end and sank rather than swam.
A player who had previously looked up for the fight now looked woefully incapable of dealing with the more physical aspects of the English game and appeared to lack a cutting edge.
He wouldn't score a single goal either for Koeman – who was sacked on October 23 – or in the Premier League with his solitary strike in 16 outings a royal blue jersey coming in the 5-1 home thrashing against Italian club Atalanta in the Europa League.
Ultimately Sandro was a gamble of a signing for Everton that didn't come off but given the relatively modest fee by contemporary Premier League standards he looked like a punt worth taking.
He certainly won't be the last overseas player, particularly from a Latin background, to try and fail in what still is, despite the cosmopolitan nature of the English top flight these days, a more rough and tumble environment.
The more concerning element of this sorry episode though is Sandro's subsequent struggles back in Spain.
Loaned to Sevilla for the second half of the 2017/18 campaign and Real Sociedad for the entirety of last season, he has gone from being a player with a one-in-two strike-rate in La Liga to one without a goal in 41 outings – 18 for Sevilla and 23 for Sociedad.
Such an alarming slump in form, and confidence, makes Sandro with another two years left on the substantial Everton contract that he was able to negotiate because of his modest fee, a difficult inconvenience for Marcel Brands and Marco Silva to try and shift.
Unfortunately he might have just a flash in the pan who has now reverted to type.
These words spoken to the ECHO in the summer of 2017 by seasoned Spanish football observer Sid Lowe, although meant to be positive at the time, now possess a somewhat haunting quality.
He said: “As a player I’ve been absolutely blown away by him this year.
“I chose Sandro as my signing of the year for last season. Just 12 months ago there was literally nobody who wanted to pay for him.”
