When Javier Hernandez was signed by West Ham United in the summer, there was little doubt that the acquisition of the Mexican striker would work out to be an excellent one.
After all, wherever he'd played in the past, be it Guadalajara, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, plus with his national team, he consistently scores goals. Indeed, bringing in a proven goalscorer at the highest level who was in his prime, and cost a reasonable £16 million from Leverkusen, appeared a pretty failsafe piece of business.
The assumed recipe for success, unfortunately, hasn't entirely worked out, however, as the Hammers have had quite the turbulent season, which has had a detrimental effect on Hernandez's capacity to perform to his best.
Although he's scored a decent seven goals in 24 matches, the man bought in and admired by Slaven Bilic, who was later sacked in November, has found opportunities a lot more difficult to come by since David Moyes was installed as manager last November.
The fact he's started just five of the 20 games Moyes has been at the helm for depicts his struggles. Even though injuries have played a part, his frustration at his predicament even led to him wanting to leave the Irons in January so he could get himself vital minutes ahead of the World Cup in Russia.
"There has always been speculation as to whether I will stay or leave and I cannot guarantee anything. I have two more years of contract with West Ham, and everything will come up," he recently explained.
"You never know, because in the winter period I wanted to find my way out to have more minutes and could not."
Although he eventually stayed put, all the signs point to him exiting the club in the summer after just one year at the London Stadium.
A brilliant finisher, whose cunning runs in behind the defence, instinctive movement into the box, set-piece threat and energetic defensive pressing make him a huge weapon, it'll certainly be interesting see where the 29-year-old will be plying his trade next term.
Despite his time at West Ham being surprisingly disappointing so far, at least Hernandez has the World Cup in the summer to look forward to.