DEAR Riyad, 

How are you holding up, buddy? Life can be tough sometimes and few have it worse than you at the moment. Next time I pass a homeless person asking me to “spare a few pennies” or I bump into someone heading to a food bank or I meet a junior doctor complaining about “stress,” I’ll tell them to stop being so self-centred. At least they don’t have it as bad as you.

Few of us can comprehend what it must be like to have your dream move snatched from your grasp in such cruel fashion. Well, at least your dream move since you stopped dreaming about moving to Arsenal or was it Barcelona? It’s hard to keep track with a dreamer like you. It’s little wonder you’re not in the right frame of mind to undertake the onerous task of kicking a ball about for 90 minutes.