Kevin-Prince Boateng has steadily become just what a player of his quality simply shouldn't be: a lost cause.
Seeing what has become of his career now, it's even more startling to recall that, until very recently, he was on such a high. Those were the days when he was hitting second-half hat-tricks off the bench to win games for AC Milan, scoring stunners against Pep Guardiola's impeccable Barcelona, moonwalking across the San Siro pitch, and playing up a storm in Ghana's colours at the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
He's sinking now, though, to depths he mightn't rise from.
So just how did we get here?
Well, it's all happened in plain view, actually. Frustrating inconsistency which saw him net just twice in the Serie A during his penultimate season with Milan ensured the Rossoneri deemed him fit to be dispensed of before 2013-14 properly kicked off, regardless of the fact that his last contributions in a Milan shirt were two goals scored in a play-off versus PSV Eindhoven to get the seven-time European champions into the Uefa Champions League group stage.
That, coupled with Boateng's own growing uneasiness in a country which had subjected him to a high-profile case of racial abuse as well as Schalke's own intent of pricing their man away (Boateng would later claim the Ruhr outfit had gotten in touch a full year prior), sealed the €12 million transfer.
Anyway, the forward's return to Germany got off to a flying start, with him winning the Gelsenkirchen-based club's Player of the Month award for October 2013 and ultimately helping Schalke finish third in that season of the Bundesliga. And, just when his club football regained an upward momentum, Boateng's international career - which had stalled when he prematurely called time on his stint as a Black Star not long after the Mundial in South Africa - also enjoyed a revival when he re-availed himself for Ghana just in time for the World Cup in 2014.
It was during that summer, however, that things began to slide downhill again - and, boy, did they go down fast!
First, Boateng failed to impress when he had his chance in Brazil for Ghana, and then indecent behaviour had him - together with fellow 'bad boy' and one-time Milan teammate Sulley Muntari - dismissed from the Stars' camp. And so he returned to Schalke after the showpiece, only to find little solace.
As the current season has wore on, and Schalke's performances steadily declined (Die Knappen have won just two of their last 10 league games, a slump which has them almost squeezed out of an European place for next season), Boateng has been among the least useful of the men at Roberto Di Matteo's disposal, featuring in only 18 matches all season. At several points in the campaign he has struggled for form and fitness, thus when - after the weekend's shock 2-0 loss to Cologne which Schalke star Julian Draxler described as 'one of [Schalke's] worst performances in recent years' - Boateng (who got subbed off after 59 minutes in said game) and colleague Sidney Sam were declared 'released' (or 'indefinitely suspended', if that sounds any milder), many might have justifiably felt the reasons were entirely sporting.
Only that they weren't; at least not according to Schalke CEO Horst Heldt.
"It's not about the loyalty of individuals. It's about the attitude and desire to be successful," Heldt explained.
Spot the keyword there? The one at the root of it all, and which has so often proved thematic throughout Boateng's stop-start career?
Attitude.
With an air of finality, the official statement delivering Schalke's verdict stated rather ominously that "there is no way back."
In a week that has proved especially tough for the Boatengs - junior, more successful sibling Jerome got dragged all over the place by a certain 5 ft 7 Argentine last week in the Uefa Champions League, remember? - 'The Boa' has arguably had it worse.
And thus the former Germany youth international has been granted one more chapter to include in the autobiography Sport Bild reported sometime last week that the Berlin-born is planning to pen. Boateng's unceremonial exit might not be the final chapter, of course, given that he's only 'just' 28. Still, having already had his fair share of top European clubs - Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund, Portsmouth (before they collapsed), Milan, and now Schalke - and failing to leave a lasting, positive impact at any of those, it is improbable that Boateng would have another shot in the big lights.
A speculated move to the MLS where the New York Red Bulls are said to be eyeing a swoop would almost certainly be on the cards. And while Boateng might rival David Beckham in terms of frequency of visits to the salon, he's really no 'Goldenballs', thus ‘destination America’ may mean no return to top-level European football.
An ignominious end for a fine talent, you'd agree.
Alas...
Source: Sammie Frimpong/Ghana/starrfmonline.com/103.5FM