Britt Assombalonga is remembering a time before he was a £15million footballer, when he thought the last stop on the Northern Line was as far as he would go.
There, after taking the Tube to Edgware in North London, he would indulge in a cheese and onion pasty for breakfast before starting his shift at WH Smith. He earned £5 per hour.
Today, the 24-year-old is Middlesbrough's club-record signing. The fee is the highest ever paid for a Championship player. 'Assomba-wonga!' screamed the headlines last month on the newspaper stands he used to stack.
There is, then, a sense of appreciation as he reflects on a journey which has taken him from the Congo to the 5-a-side cages of Camden, via a newsagents and to the cusp of Premier League and international football.