West Bromwich Albion had a night to forget when facing off against Southampton on Friday, losing 2-0 to Russell Martin's high-flying Saints with the Baggies only registering a weak two shots on target all game.
Brandon Thomas-Asante's barren patch in front of goal stretched to six games in all competitions, with Carlos Corberan frustrated at his inability to call upon Daryl Dike to try and attempt to change the game.
Dike was visibly distraught when coming off injured versus Ipswich Town in the Baggies' last away contest, with the extent of his injury revealed afterwards to be a season-ender owing to a serious Achilles issue.
It's been a cursed move to the Hawthorns in truth for the towering American striker, who has seen his West Brom career never really kick into gear after joining for a hefty £7m transfer fee back in 2022.
Daryl Dike's career in numbers
Dike would join the West Midlands outfit off the back of a potent loan spell at Barnsley during the 2020/21 season, finding the back of the net a respectable nine times from 22 appearances before West Brom took an interest.
The 6 foot 2 centre-forward was equally as effective in front of goal out in his native America also, bagging 19 goals from 41 appearances playing for Orlando City.
Therefore, with the now 23-year-old garnering a reputation as a lethal goalscoring presence at the time, the £7m price tag above his head didn't feel too extortionate.
Now, however, the fee feels rather excessive with Dike sadly spending more time in the Hawthorns treatment room than out on the pitch enthralling the West Brom masses.
Daryl Dike's transfer value in 2024
Dike's nightmarish time for the Baggies to date can be summed up on his first-ever start for the club, having to come off injured with a serious hamstring knock against Peterborough United that then ruled him out for the rest of the season.
The American attacker has only managed to play 32 games for Corberan's men over three injury-ravaged campaigns, with his transfer value taking a major hit as a direct consequence.
West Brom have never really been able to get the best out of the striker who was once described as "incredible" by former Manchester United winger Nani who starred with Dike playing for Orlando, the 23-year-old now worth just £2m – according to Football Transfers – which will be demoralising for the powers that be at the Baggies who had previously splashed the cash.
It's not as if Dike hasn't shone during his stop-start West Brom career though, scoring eight times when fully fit, but it must be such a frustrating predicament for the ex-Barnsley man to constantly find himself in with his 2024 now already looking to be a write-off.
Corberan and Co will be thankful that they have the likes of Andreas Weimann and Callum Marshall at their disposal on loan in attack as a result, but the situation involving Dike will inevitably still sting.
Only 23 years of age, Dike will keep everything crossed that he can eventually have an injury-free run of games to make the grade at West Brom down the line.
But, if these issues continue as they are, West Brom would be staring a major loss in the face when trying to offload their cursed target man to a new club.
