Having spent most of his teenage years on football's white-knuckle learning curve, Arsenal's Daniel Crowley is pleased to have made quiet and steady progress in the Dutch backwater of Deventer.
Living alone in a flat and fighting relegation with Go Ahead Eagles in a sleepy city famed for making bicycles and honey cake, the change of pace seems to agree with him.
Crowley was born and raised in Coventry, joined Aston Villa at the age of eight and was soon hailed a wonderkid as he hurtled through the youth ranks.
He was signed by Arsene Wenger at 15, courted by England and heralded as the next Jack Wilshere before loan spells at Barnsley and Oxford ended prematurely and he was stunned by what seemed like a scramble to write-off his career.