After Tyreeq Bakinson's rather acrimonious and sudden departure in January, it's probably correct to assume his days at Bristol City are numbered unless something dramatic should unfold.
The 23-year-old midfielder was shown the exit door by manager Nigel Pearson in the New Year just 55 days after signing a contract extension.
A loan move to Ipswich was granted with Pearson openly criticising the player's attitude in the press just hours before his switch was confirmed.
Pearson's words were: "As far as I'm concerned, and I've said it before, if players don't want to be here they can go.
"I'm not bothered. He's a player who unfortunately just wants to play on his own terms. It's not something I particularly want so he can go."
With a contract at Ashton Gate until the summer of 2023, there is still no guarantee that Ipswich will take up the option of signing him permanently which could result in Bakinson heading back to the club at the end of the season with somewhat of a dilemma on his hands.
Bakinson was once eyed as a City player with the potential to become an established Championship midfielder - he certainly has all the attributes.
His performances at Ipswich in the second half of the season will be important to City even if his future belongs somewhere else. That's because every penny in the club's coffers is worth counting at the moment and a decent run of form can only accelerate his price tag should other clubs come sniffing.
He has played 11 times for The Tractor Boys, starting eight and coming off the substitute bench on three occasions. He has scored once, the winner in a 1-0 victory over Doncaster at the beginning of last month.
We spoke to Ipswich Town reporter Andy Warren to get the lowdown on Bakinson's loan spell in League One and his progress so far.
"He can be brilliant one minute and then be really slack the next," he said. Sound familiar?
"I would say he's been getting more and more consistent, improving along the way."
A number of injuries to Ipswich's midfielders has handed Bakinson an opportunity to impress in Kieran McKenna's side with a consecutive run of games - something that is appearing to be beneficial.
"Tyreeq has made himself Lee Evan's replacement which wasn't the case at the start, but he's doing okay. He's been playing alongside Sam Morsy, one of the best midfielders in the division and he's the marauder getting forward and probing the break forward with Tyreeq sitting back.
"He's not a midfield enforcer but he does seem pretty good at breaking up play and using the ball sensibly but that would be how I would describe him so far.
"In the last three of four games, he's been pretty good, cutting out and errors but at the start, he was at times really sloppy at times getting caught on the ball. There was a game at MK Dons where he got caught a couple of times in bad positions where he was lucky to get away with it.
"But I have to give him credit because in the recent run this month, he's been much more consistent. We're seeing the upside of him.
"I can definitely see why people would rate him, he picks a pass, he's scored a goal, could have had a couple more. He's started shooting a bit more recently from outside the box which is good to see."
More importantly, is it a case where Bakinson is showing enough to earn himself a permanent deal in the summer or will Ipswich be tempted to throw the dice and look elsewhere? Well, it appears the jury is still well and truly out.
"If you asked Ipswich fans, I don't think him signing permanently would mean a slam dunk at the moment.
"We're slowly but surely working to the point where people would see him as a decent midfield option among three or four options. He's definitely not at the stage where we definitely need this guy signing."
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