Mahmoud Dahoud was supposed to be at the centre of Albion’s new European adventure.

And not only in the form of that huge image of him on the front of the club shop at the Amex.

There he stands, in the Europa League shirt made for this special season, gazing down on those who approach the north west corner of the stadium.

On the pitch, he looked a European signing, with the right qualities and experience.

He might take time to get up Premier League speed - and Roberto De Zerbi was willing to grant him that.

But he would help the squad through their European transition.

Ironic then that, while it was his inability to adapt to the Prem which seems to have cut short his Albion season, the first sign that all was not right was in Europe and in that special kit.

Dahoud was superb the night Albion beat Ajax in Amsterdam.

The stage suited him, the style of play suited him, the tempo suited him.

He is an intelligent passer of the ball and his creative work was a big part of the Simon Adingra strike which put the Seagulls into a 2-0 lead.

Then, three days later, he was sent off at home to Sheffield United with his side 1-0 up.

They failed to adapt quickly enough to playing with ten and conceded an equaliser.

Maybe the foot he left in on Ben Osborn that afternoon was part of him trying to be more physical, more intense.

Still, while serving a three-match domestic ban, he would be available in Europe.

So he seemed a likely starter when Albion went to Athens, especially with De Zerbi by now concerned about the workload facing some players.

Remember they had just battled their way to a gruelling 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest, again having been reduced to ten.

But that did not happen. He only got on as a second-half sub at AEK and was ineffective.

The next time he was given a Prem chance, he set the tone in a negative sense in a 1-1 draw with Burnley.

The Clarets led at half-time and Dahoud was taken off.

We have not seen him on the field of play since.

The one opportunity when one wondered whether we might was in the FA Cup tie at Stoke.

But De Zerbi left him out altogether - and sent on Jack Hinchy for his first minutes under the current management.

That came 24 hours after he had said the following about Dahoud at a press conference.

"I have already spoken with him a lot of times. I expect from him more and more – more quality, more personality, more energy, more enthusiasm.

"I was clear with him.

"It can be difficult in the beginning, in another country, but in the end we are competing in the first level of football.

"You can need much time but football sometimes can’t give so much time."

Last Friday, I asked De Zerbi about Dahoud’s reaction to being left out and whether he still had a future with Albion.

While not wishing to say it was all over, the head coach made it clear where Dahoud stood in the midfield pecking order - fifth out of five.

One of his other replies included an unexpected mention of Hinchy, who has impressed the staff with his understanding of what is required after stepping into the first team environment.

As for Dahoud, his inability to adapt to the Premier intensity has led him to Stuttgart.

He links up with Deniz Undav, who is also on loan from the Seagulls and is thriving to the point there is even talk of him making a late push to play at the Euros.

Stuttgart, currently flying high in third place in the Bundesliga, have the option to make both loans more permanent.

The sum in question for Undav is believed to be substantial.

That for Dahoud is 10 million euros. For a player they signed on a free last summer, that would make for good financial business for Albion.

It wasn’t the way in which they wanted to profit, though.

He was supposed to be a big player, not just a big picture.