Mykhailo Mudryk and Alejandro Garnacho's situations at Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are comparable.
That is the opinion of former senior Villa and Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Mudryk, who arrived on loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day, has been unavailable with an ankle injury for over two months after making his debut.
The winger was banned from featuring for nearly two years after he tested positive for a banned substance with the FA finally clearing him to play in July.
Tottenham have a £75million option to buy Mudryk but have yet to see him feature for more than 16 minutes, with his return possibly to come after the international break.
Garnacho, while not injured, has struggled just as much for minutes since signing for Villa on loan from Chelsea with an obligation to buy next summer.
'Mykhailo Mudryk does nothing for me'
Should Garnacho reach a certain amount of appearances for Villa this season, he will be signed permanently.
But the Argentina international has made only seven so far this season, and is seriously struggling to make any more.
Sunday's clash at Manchester United saw him left out of the squad again - the third time in the last four Premier League matches.
"I've got a nice answer for that. No. I couldn't see him making an impact before it, let alone after it," King told Football Insider when asked about Mudryk's chances of returning in form.
"I think the whole thing around Mudryk is that he came to Chelsea for an inflated fee, which I could never believe that anybody would pay that kind of money for him.
"He's been banned more through offences outside of football than he is from actually getting involved in football.
"I think we've got a situation here at Tottenham with Mudryk, which is very similar to Aston Villa's with Garnacho.
"You've got two players who are, supposedly, very talented, got a bit of pace, but look how many games Mudryk has played in the last two years.
"And Tottenham take him on? Who do they think is running the club? Aladdin? 'Come on, Mudryk, rub the lamp.'
"I'm afraid he does nothing for me, and if ever there's not a Tottenham player, he's one."
Mykhailo Mudryk must score '10+' Tottenham goals to trigger permanent deal Mudryk and Alejandro Garnacho loans could have same outcome
Come next summer, both Mudryk and Garnacho could well be making their returns to Stamford Bridge.
It seems incredibly unlikely that the former will be signed permanently by Tottenham, especially not for £75m.
And for Garnacho, the case of Harvey Elliott will likely have him fearing the worst already.
The Liverpool man went on loan to Villa with an obligation to buy in the summer of 2025, only for Unai Emery to decide that he did not want him and hand him only nine appearances all season.