Seven years ago, the Potters’ number one Viktor Johansson left Sweden for England, where he would be joined at Villa Park by a tall, well-spoken and ultra-positive peer, Matija Sarkic.

Speaking to the official Stoke City podcast, Potters’ Pod, earlier this year, Johansson spoke candidly about the homesickness which forced him to cry himself to sleep and the career threatening injuries which compounded the mental hardships he experienced throughout his first 12 months in the UK.

The now 26-year-old, however, had a friend in waiting, as he explains.

“Mati and I clicked straight away.

“He took me on board and integrated me into the changing room with the older lads.

“My first impressions were that he was a really intelligent guy, you could tell that in his vocabulary, but more than anything he was so positive, and he showed me the way to becoming a professional goalkeeper and, more importantly, a good person.”