The setting was the five-star Althoff Seehotel Uberfahrt on the banks of Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps.
It was late July 2017, and Andy Robertson had arrived at Liverpool’s training camp in Germany following the completion of his £8million ($10.7m) move from Hull City.
The heat was punishing and the intensity of those early sessions under Jurgen Klopp proved to be a culture shock for the Scottish left-back, who was playing catch-up having missed the club’s pre-season trip to Hong Kong.
As he pulled up a seat in the hotel’s function room to carry out the first external media duties of his Liverpool career, a sense of appreciation and excitement shone through.
He talked about the hurdles he had overcome, such as being released by his boyhood club Celtic aged 15 because they thought he was too small. “Looking back on it now, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. It really helped me become the man I am,” he said.
