In August last year, Craig Bellamy came home to Cardiff from Belgium. It was only a brief visit. That was all it could be. That was all it ever was in those days because of Covid.
By then, the separation was starting to gnaw at him and wear him down. This was a special occasion, too. It was his youngest child’s birthday. Orla was one year old.
Bellamy knew he had to be gone the next day.
Back to Anderlecht, back to a football environment that was everything he wanted, coaching the club’s Under-21 side, working closely with manager Vincent Kompany, immersing himself in the game for 14 hours a day, educating himself, spending hours on the training pitch with the former Manchester City captain, plotting and planning.