Riyad Mahrez stands before a vast image of Muhammad Ali, enthusing about him and another of his idols, Roger Federer — the sole reason he was determined to make it to Wimbledon this summer.
Yet it is in the story of how he wound up at St Mirren nine years ago, in the depths of a bitter Scottish winter, that something significant emerges about the player with title aspirations of his own.
'I didn't want to go,' says the French-born Algerian with a grin in an hour's conversation about his struggles, triumphs, philosophies and ambitions — less than 24 hours after scoring the goal that helped Leicester City beat Tottenham.