Stonefish picked Jamie up from the airport, Jamie’s conveniently dipped baseball cap having allowed him to travel pretty much unrecognized.

They headed straight for the training ground.

It was as though Jamie was in some kind of strange trance. As they travelled along the roads of Barcelona on Stonefish’s moped, he felt echoes of having been here in a former life, but nothing so clearly defined as could be called a memory.

It was the same when Godal and his Barcelona teammates greeted him. They showed him a warmth and a care that he felt he did not deserve. Jamie knew who these men were – of course he did, they were the most famous football team in the world – and yet he did not know in what way they knew him.

But in a sense, none of this mattered. The only relevant fact was that Jamie was about to play football with them.

As he jogged out on to the pitch, Jamie felt sure that within seconds he’d be able to tell if that spark was still there, if that football brain was still working inside him. If he could produce just one moment of magic today, one glorious glimpse of genius, that would be enough. Enough to show Godal that Jamie Johnson was on his way back. Enough to show that he had a future with Barcelona.

However, Jamie could feel that something was not right almost as soon as Godal blew his whistle to start the practice game. The first time he ran to chase the ball he felt his head banging as his brain seemed to crash against his skull.

After a couple of minutes, Godal interrupted the game to make some small tactical alterations. It was the second that Jamie needed to clear his head, to focus on what he was here to do. He tapped his chest hard, just above his heart, to get the blood pumping.

Godal restarted the game by rolling the ball straight to Jamie. Had he planned this or was it a coincidence? Jamie watched as the small, round object that contained all his dreams spun towards him. It was coming so very fast.

And really, that was the difference. Before, whenever Jamie had played, it had seemed like everything was happening in slow motion in front of him. He could see the tackles coming in and avoid them; he could capture the exact flight of the ball and prepare himself; and he could predict the way in which the game was going to unfold.

But today it was the complete opposite. Everything seemed to be happening way too fast for Jamie to take in. His teammates were shouting for the ball as his opponents closed in. It all happened in a flash. He lost the ball.

And it was not all he’d lost.

There was no pace or power in his legs whatsoever.

The final blow came five minutes later when Jamie jumped to contest a high ball in the air. He managed to win the header, but as soon as he made contact with the ball, it felt as if the lights in his head went out.

Jamie collapsed on the ground, clutching his head.

Seeing everybody crowd around him in concern, he tried to get back up to show them that he was OK, but as soon as he did, he felt wobbly and sick.

Godal caught him just as he was about to fall.

And, for Jamie, the look in his manager’s eyes said it all.