“I said to him ‘It’s a great story, but you have to be careful in future. You’re not just anyone so you can’t go somewhere with just anyone.’

“He laughed at me and responded: ‘No, but it is just a normal thing for me to do. There is no problem.’

“I told him, ‘What is normal for you may not be normal for everyone else.’

“He smiled and said: ‘It is a small thing, a simple thing. It made me happy and it made them happy. That is what life should be about.’”

It is a Wednesday afternoon in Paris - the city coloured in grayscale - and as light showers morph into a more menacing prospect, Miloud Kotbi unsuccessfully tries to shield himself from the rain with his left hand.

The 28-year-old’s right palm, meanwhile, is stretched over his face as he relates a conversation involving his long-time friend N’Golo Kante.

Kotbi had travelled to London in October to spend time with the Chelsea midfielder, who described the sequence of events that saw him miss his Eurostar train from St Pancras to the French capital a month earlier, prompting him to visit a mosque in Kings Cross, before accepting an impromptu invite to an Arsenal fan’s house.

“Curry, tea, FIFA and watching Match of the Day with strangers like he has known them all his life,” Kotbi comments on Kante going to Badlur Rahman Jalil’s residence, adding: “that is typical ‘NG’ - an easy guy with big talent, but even bigger humanity.

“He treats each person the same, regardless of what they do or what they have. He sees the good in everyone.”

Kotbi, who is the editor of PSG Community, has known the World Cup winner for over a decade.

The pair grew up five minutes away from each other in Geraniums, a district in the western commune of Rueil-Malmaison, and spent three years together at JS Suresnes in the 15-18 age bracket.

The player he sees today - pivotal to Premier League title wins for Leicester City and Chelsea, before functioning as a key component in Les Bleus’ victory at Russia 2018 - is largely unchanged from the teenager that said little, but delivered in spades for Suresnes in the ninth division.

Before his 16th birthday, Kante caught the eye as more than 100 boys trialled in an annual September recruitment drive. He was catapulted to join their under-18s - a decision that sliced through the norm.

“It was obvious he was special from the very beginning; he could do things others couldn’t and he would always be picked in a higher age level even though he was small,” Kotbi, who used to play on either defensive flank, reveals.