Former Everton signing Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has been placed up for sale by his current club.
Back in 2009 Everton paid £8.9 million to sign Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, a Russian winger who had already become the captain of Lokomotiv Moscow.
He had an exciting debut season, scoring seven times including a memorable striker in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United which went some way towards costing the Red Devils the title.
He failed to kick on and ended up falling out of favour, and then cashed in on as The Toffees sought to recover some of the fee they spent on him to bring in new players who could have a fresh impact.
He was bought by Spartak Moscow and now 28 he should be at the peak of his career, but finds himself placed up for sale by the club.
Last season played in just 14 games for the club and scored three goals, and is said to want out - blaming the club's artificial playing surface.
His dad told Russian newspaper Izvestia: "Unfortunately Diniyar has not managed to find his best level, and the reasons for this may be quite a lot. One of the main, I think, are his injuries he received in the first few months after moving to Spartak. It is largely affected synthetic surface field at the Luzhniki."
The paper also report that the winger is 'no longer in the plans' of Spartak, and coach Valery Karpin has told him it is in both interests of club and player if he moves on.
Whether Everton would take him back is just a hypothetical question at this point, but it's an interesting one nonetheless.
If the club would get the impressive player of his first season at Goodison then surely it would be a yes, but the inconsistent player of the following 18 months would not garner as much praise.
When he left the club he blamed David Moyes' tactics for his poor form, stating: "Naturally, it (the open football at Spartak) attracts me. This is exactly what Everton have been missing lately."
He did go onto praise the club, and his life in the country where he got married, and certainly did not leave under the cloud the press made out in light of his comment.
Which could make you wonder if the more flowing football Roberto Martinez is expected to bring to Everton would be more conducive to getting the best out of him?
A player who knows the club and has shown he can produce, and has a point to prove, with the Russian media reporting he could be available for around €3 million.
Signing him for less than half of the fee they sold him for could be a very clever piece of business indeed from a financial sense. From a sporting one, you tell us...
Would you have Bilyaletdinov back?
I'll make a religion dedicated to you if you can find me a Per Koldrup EFC montage
