Newcastle United man Miguel Almiron could leave the club shortly according to the player's agent in an interview on Paraguayan radio.
The quotes will no doubt be unpopular by those involved at St James' Park with Almiron's agent claiming that the 2019 signing would have already left were it not for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Atletico Madrid are said to be one club looking at the potential services of Almiron who joined the Magpies from MLS side Atlanta United for a then club record £21million.
Why would Almiron leave?
For whatever reason Newcastle manager Steve Bruce hasn't used Almiron in his Premier League starting line-ups so far this season, something which is interesting considering how little possession the Magpies have in their games, regardless of the opposition.
Almiron's pace would certainly be useful in setting up counter-attacks but instead the ball is always given to fellow attacker Allan Saint-Maximin who is set to perform the role of brining the ball forwards from the back.
On his own, this doesn't always work so it may be confusing to some as to why Almiron doesn't play a bigger role in the side.
But according to Almiron's agent Daniel Campos, his client would prefer to play in a side who have more possession such as Diego Simeone's Atletico side. Not that this is an aspect of the game that Simeone always focusses on, particularly in the UEFA Champions League where his team have become renowned for sitting back and soaking up the pressure to frustrate teams, a tactic which has worked well over the years.
In fairness, the potential to play Champions League football is something that any footballer would want and this isn't going to happen at Newcastle under the current Mike Ashley regime.
Would Almiron be a miss at Newcastle?
There is no doubting that Almiron has the ability to be a top player in the Premier League, and his pace is frightening for many sides that he has faced.
It may have taken him a while to get going in England, and having failed to score since his debut under Rafa Benitez, he finally got his goal by scoring a late winner against Crystal Palace just before Christmas last year.
He then went on to bag a few more goals during the 2019/20 campaign, but what was crucial about his first goal for the club was the reaction of the crowd at St James' Park which just showed how delighted they were to see the popular player's first strike.
Steve Bruce is surely missing a trick by not playing Almiron as Newcastle could like a much greater attacking threat playing with the likes of Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson in attack.
What does the future hold?
Going from the reports in South America, a move elsewhere for Almiron is likely even if it is at the end of the current season.
However, if he continues to be left out of the side then there is nothing to stop him leaving sooner than that and that would be a sorry way for Almiron's time on Tyneside to come to an end after all of the hype surrounding his move back in 2019.
It wouldn't be the first time that potential had been wasted by the club, but if Atletico are the side waiting to snap him up then who could blame him for leaving?