“I said ‘Where is Villarreal?’ ”explains Etienne Capoue, who describes it like he was scanning a map of the world and pointing his finger down. “I was told it was in the sun, just there, next to Valencia. So I said ‘alright, let’s go.”

Capoue’s last two games for Watford were in England’s second tier against Norwich and Huddersfield. He left in January 2021 and his last two games of that season for Villarreal came against Real Madrid and Manchester United.