Jean-Kevin Augustin is set to spend the rest of the season playing reserve team football after being frozen out at Ligue 1 side Nantes.
The former Leeds United striker, who made just three substitute appearances during an ill-fated loan spell at Elland Road last season, has struggled similarly upon his return to France.
Augustin sealed a move to Nantes from German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig ahead of the 2020/2021 season.
However, after totalling just 33 minutes across three short cameo appearances from the bench, the 23-year-old will play no further part in the French top division between now and the summer, according to a report from Ouest France.
It comes as Nantes manager Antoine Kombouare looks to 'tighten up his group' amid an ongoing relegation battle - with Augustin's side level on points with third-bottom Lorient, having played a game more.
Having progressed through the ranks at hometown club Paris Saint-Germain, frontman Augustin burst on to the scene with Leipzig after making the move to Germany in 2017.
In total, he scored 12 goals in 18 starts there, with loan spells at Monaco and Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa to follow.
However, neither of those spells worked out quite the way Augustin planned - and he hasn't netted at senior level since the 2018/2019 campaign.
This latest setback in his career comes two months after he was initially withdrawn from the first-team squad at Nantes, due to a lack of fitness.
Speaking in December, former manager Christian Gourcuff said: "We have left him out of team training so he can reach an acceptable level of fitness.
"We integrated him, but we saw that he was not at a sufficient level. His lack of a pre-season has penalised him so much that he cannot be competitive."
