USA worldwide Christian Ramirez was the toast of Aberdeen however his marketing campaign began to fizzle earlier than his abrupt departure on Tuesday.
The California native made the transfer from the Houston Dynamo to the Granite Metropolis final summer season and is likely one of the membership's highest earners.
However supervisor Jim Goodwin revealed he has despatched the striker dwelling every week early to "recharge his batteries" after his kind has dipped below the previous St Mirren boss' tenure.
Ramirez has scored 16 objectives in 51 appearances for the Granite Metropolis membership however his final purpose got here towards Motherwell in February - in what could be the final recreation in cost for former boss Stephen Glass.
His hasty exit with two Premiership video games to play has caught most of the Purple Military off guard.
And now some imagine we could have seen the final of the American striker in Scottish soccer, with some not having it that the Dons can let their prime scorer depart on vacation early when there's video games towards St Johnstone and St Mirren nonetheless to be performed.
Regardless of the distraction, Aberdeen have put to mattress any relegation worries with 4 factors towards Dundee and Hibs condemning the Dens Park membership and St Johnstone to the underside two.
Report Sport takes a have a look at Ramirez' time in Scotland and assess the place his future lies.
Purple patch
Earlier in his profession, Ramirez had been a prolific ahead in MLS with Minnesota United and Los Angeles FC and that put him onto the fringes of the USA nationwide crew the place he earned two caps, scoring as soon as.
And he could not have gotten off to a greater begin in Scotland after bagging 4 objectives in his first 4 video games, together with a double towards Breidablik in a Europa Convention League qualifier.
Ramirez raced into double figures earlier within the season than any Aberdeen participant apart from Sam Cosgrove and Adam Rooney had for 25 years which helped him stay as much as his nickname within the States of 'Superman'.
Dip in kind
With fellow attackers Jay Emmanuel Thomas and Marley Watkins struggling to maintain health, the Dons had been on the verge of an attacking nightmare.
Ramirez then noticed a dip in kind from the top of October the place he scored simply twice in ten video games till lastly breaking that duck in a 3-0 Scottish Cup victory over Edinburgh Metropolis on January 22.
He operated with no strike companion and really restricted service in a struggling crew so with a lot minutes it was no shock that it could take it is toll sooner or later.
Glass' departure
None, actually, gave extra within the try to avoid wasting the previous supervisor’s job than Ramirez.
He scored in every of Glass’ final three video games in cost, just for the crew to lose all of them.
When Glass was sacked by the Dons after a dismal run of kind in February, issues appeared to show bitter for Ramirez.
Objectives dried up and with Jim Goodwin changing the previous Atlanta 2 boss, recreation time was diminished too.
Ramirez was left on the bench towards Hibs final Saturday after ten video games with out discovering the web and in addition was left raging after being substituted towards Dundee within the earlier recreation.
The striker fumed as he was changed by Teddy Jenks within the second half in a response which was criticised from the Dons followers.
Ramirez's household returned to the USA earlier final month, prompting him to interact with followers questioning whether or not he'll observe swimsuit on social media.
When requested on his future, Goodwin said, "He's contracted for subsequent season. Anybody who does not wish to be right here subsequent season, all they should do is chap my door and inform me.
"Proper now the large man is below contract. He has scored some massive objectives. He has come from a unique nation and it could actually take time to adapt and settle, however I do not assume it has taken that with Christian in equity to him."
Cryptic clues
In an interview in November with American Soccer Now, Ramirez hinted as a lot as he enjoys life in Scotland he admits he has some unfinished enterprise again in his homeland.
“I am actually keen on my time that I've had in MLS and I feel that I can nonetheless return and play sometime,” Ramirez defined.
He added: “I do not maintain any grudges. I realized from my experiences. I loved my time in Houston, have an awesome relationship with the blokes within the locker room, and I hope to sooner or later return to MLS and use that final 12 months and a half as some motivation to show issues in a optimistic observe.”
All in all, if his Aberdeen profession is to finish this summer season, it could go down as one among unrealised potential with the Dons failure to recruit competitors for the striker probably resulting in the late season burnout.
But when Ramirez stays for the 2022/23 marketing campaign the Reds should nonetheless signal one other confirmed purpose scorer to play up entrance with him.
Followers wait with bated breath to see what the summer season brings.