Gil Dias joined Nottingham Forest amid much fanfare, but the Portuguese has done little to suggest a £17.5 million purchase option will be taken up.
Were the Reds to trigger that clause, which was reported by the Telegraph upon his arrival, then a man taken on loan from Monaco would top compatriot Joao Carvalho as the club’s costliest signing.
Anybody fancy making Dias a record buy?
I don’t imagine there will be too many takers, with it looking highly unlikely at this stage that a deal will be pushed through.
This is no slight on Dias, who moved to England with a blossoming reputation.
Different demands
He is under contract at Monaco, has represented Fiorentina in Serie A and earned 10 U21 caps for his country.
You do not achieve all of that by the age of 22 by being a bad player.
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Dias is, however, not the right man for Forest.
The top tiers in France, Portugal and Italy are markedly different to the second level in England, with an altogether different set of professional demands having to be faced.
Not everybody can get to grips with them.
Dias was supposed to bring added creativity to the Reds, with a tricky winger just what Aitor Karanka could do with.
The Championship is an unforgiving beast, though, and a loan star is looking more than a little lost.
No league goals and not a single assist is not the return Forest were expecting from a man with such a lofty valuation.
More was expected and it may be time to acknowledge that the experiment has failed.
More harm than good
There is no shame in making such calls – some additions work out, some don’t.
In Dias’ case, it could be argued that his presence is actually doing more harm than good, as a desire to continue giving him minutes is denying outings to others.
If given the choice, who would you rather see bombing down the flanks: Dias or Matty Cash?
One boasts the work rate, energy and experience to make an impact in a Championship promotion push, the other seemingly doesn’t.
Dias may well go on to become a fine player and have those of us left behind cursing what could have been, but he is not right for the here and now and probably shouldn’t start scouring the Nottingham property market in readiness for an extended stay.