Alvaro Morata could make a claim to being one of the deadliest strikers in Europe this season, but even still he cannot force his way into the Real Madrid first team, and looks almost certain to leave the Bernabeu this summer.
Morata's numbers this season are outstanding. He has 13 La Liga goals in just 1,146 minutes -- one every 88 mins -- and three in 164 in the Champions League. These have often been important strikes -- late winners against Celta Vigo, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal all brought valuable points to keep Madrid in the title race.
Recently the Blancos No. 19 has been in excellent form too. He has five goals in his last three starts, including a hat trick at Leganes in earlier this month, and Wednesday's opening goal after just 52 seconds in the 6-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna.
Even still, Morata remains well down the pecking order for coach Zinedine Zidane, especially when the biggest games come around. He has started just once in the Champions League -- away at Legia Warsaw -- and stayed stuck to the bench in both quarterfinal legs against Bayern Munich and the recent Clasico against Barcelona in La Liga.
This is not what the 24-year-old Madrid native expected when he returned to his boyhood club from Juventus last summer.
Reporters close to his camp say that he was told by the Bernabeu hierarchy that he would have a chance to compete with Karim Benzema for the starting centre-forward position, when it was decided he would not be immediately resold even though Premier League clubs including Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were firmly interested. He now feels "betrayed" at his treatment, it has been widely reported.
Zidane's closeness to his fellow Frenchman Benzema is one reason for Morata's lack of playing time as the months have passed. The coach's tendency to trust his expensive big names, like Gareth Bale, will deliver regardless of match fitness or recent form has also counted against the homegrown youngster.
Another big factor has been Cristiano Ronaldo's conversion into a pure goal scorer. During his previous spell at the Bernabeu, Morata could be confident that he would replace Benzema at centre-forward during the second half of matches.
However it is more likely now for Ronaldo to end games in the No. 9 position, and for Zidane to call upon a more versatile, mobile option like Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez or James Rodriguez to come on and play a supporting role out wide.
All of which means that Morata, still only 24, and with 10 career trophies already won in two countries, is likely to be among the most sought-after players in the summer's transfer market.
Premier League leaders Chelsea look the best placed to get him, mostly due to a close relationship with Blues manager Antonio Conte, who persuaded the youngster to join Juventus in 2014, although the coach then left almost immediately to take charge of the Italy national team.
"Conte is the manager who most 'bet' on me, without even ever having had me in his team," Morata said in a remarkably open interview in The Guardian earlier this month.
"I feel indebted to him because he's the coach that most trusted in me, most wanted me. And yet I've never had the fortune to actually work with him. I'm sure sooner or later I will."
There have also been some less direct hints about his future through recent weeks. Radio show El Larguero claimed this week that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has called Morata personally to make him a "dizzying" contract offer with an "astronomic" financial package. The report said Morata was 100 percent definitely leaving despite his current Madrid contract running until 2021, but he had yet to decide whether take United's offer or perhaps use it for leverage elsewhere.
There should be no shortage of other suitors. Reports claimed that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino personally tried to persuade Morata to join him last summer, while Arsenal have been crying out for a mobile target man who scores lots of goals for a few years now.
On Friday morning AS claimed that "half of Europe" wanted him, with his camp currently considering eight different clubs including Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and his former club Juventus, where he scored 27 goals and won back-to-back domestic league and cup doubles during his two seasons in Turin. But the lure of the Premier League, both economically and competitively, looks strongest.
"I loved Italy but if one day I have to leave, I'm sure it will be to the Premier League," he told The Guardian.
There is still time for another turnaround for Morata at the Bernabeu -- and he himself has also claimed (diplomatically perhaps) that his "dream" remains triumphing with his boyhood side. An end-of-season collapse for Madrid could spell trouble for Zidane and/or president Florentino Perez, leading to a summer shake-up and new regime focused around young local talent.
But unless something dramatic happens in the next few weeks Morata will be on the move again, and most likely starting 2017-18 in the Premier League.