Younes Kaboul steps into the room amid a cloud of steam which has been pumped out of the nearby cryotherapy chamber at Watford's training ground and mingled with the freezing fog.
It is as if he brought his own special effects for a roll through the mists of time. Not that he needs to.
Kaboul is approaching his 31st birthday, charismatic and wise from a decade in English football as he prepares for another encounter with Tottenham, where he spent six years in two spells.
'Ups and downs,' he smiles as he reflects on Spurs.