The thing is it all looked so innocuous when he went down at the Etihad in December 2016. He even came back on for a brief period.

“There was no contact — my leg was just stuck on the floor,” he said. “I did feel something and when I came back on the pitch I realised something was wrong. I thought I would be out for less time and I didn't expect it to take this long. There were a few setbacks as well so it took longer than I expected.”

The torn meniscus kept him out for eight months all told and there has been a sense the effects have been long-lasting, with Pereyra not quite trusting his body and not as willing to embrace contact as he once was.

“Everyone knows what they have and what their body can do, it's about the strength in the head,” he said. “If I didn't have will power and belief in my body I would be back in Tucuman playing in the streets. You have to have a good mind-set. It's gone now and I'm back. That's in the past now. I don't like to keep thinking about that — I like to look forward and think about the good things to come.”

And there should be plenty of those on the horizon. Pereyra is 27, doesn't have many miles on the clock and his best years should be ahead of him. He's a Rolls Royce of a player, a beautifully balanced and balletic footballer who interestingly looks better against better opposition. He played so well at Anfield that he wouldn't have looked out of place in the Liverpool side, his goal against Chelsea at Vicarage Road was of the highest class while his performance for an hour at Stamford Bridge, full of sinuous running, elusive movement and kaleidoscopic passing, was up there with anything seen in a Watford shirt in recent memory.

“That was one of my best performances post injury,” Pereyra said. “That was the sort of performance I know I can do and I hope to do that more consistently. I can give a lot more. The injury put me behind for a year. I had to recover physically and mentally from that. The more I play, the more I play with confidence. Every game I feel more physically ready. I have more to offer.”