Unlike his former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, the tan had faded but the smile was as bright as ever. Back at his parents' home in a corporation block at the back of the Four Courts in Dublin, Christy Fagan was at last able to put his feet up, relax and relate the tale of how his career had been rescued by Glenn Hoddle after Sir Alex Ferguson had called time on his days at Manchester United.
Last week Fagan became the first player to graduate from the Glenn Hoddle Academy in the south of Spain and sign professional terms with a club back in Britain, in Fagan's case Lincoln City in League Two. "My goal has always been to get back in to the game using my time at the Academy as a stepping stone and I know now that I will score goals for Lincoln City," Fagan said. "I am stronger now."
Since the end of his glory days as a player for Tottenham Hotspur and England, Hoddle has not always endeared himself to people and there are some who doubt whether his Spanish academy can be a long-term success. But it is certainly a brave move on the part of a famous name who could quite easily have spent his time sitting in a Sky Sports pundit's chair instead. And befitting the Hoddle name, the academy is dedicated to improving the technical side of players who are still nowhere near catching up with their continental contemporaries.
"Because the weather is so much better out there it meant we could work on things a lot more," Fagan said. "We had double sessions every day apart from Saturdays or match days. Matches are never called off so you are guaranteed to play once a week.
"We have been playing teams from the equivalent of the Championship and League One. I probably learned more tactically than I would have in England. You come up against different formations and teams out here really know how to keep possession. I'm more mature now and I think I'm a better player."
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Fagan was "devastated" when Ferguson decided towards the end of the 2007/08 season that he wasn't going to make the grade at United, the club he had joined as a 16-year-old apprentice and who had considered him good enough to give him a two-year professional contract.
"He called me into his office and told me the situation, what was going to happen next season. He just said to me that he had a lot of belief in me and I could go on to do well at another club and he wished me all the best. He offered me whatever help he could give to me. I was treated well the day I got there and I was treated well the day I left."
If Ferguson let him down gently, the harsh reality of an impending return to Ireland soon set in as Fagan played out his time in the last chance saloon that is the Premier League exit trials.
"We noticed his talent during the trials and encouraged him to join us so we could develop him," Hoddle said last week. "He's a natural striker and his main asset is his movement off the ball, so all we've tried to do is develop other areas of his game.
"He's a very good professional with an excellent attitude, and as a development club we hope Chris is the first of many to progress and find their way back into the competitive game. A lot of big-name players such as Ian Wright and Alan Shearer were released by clubs at an early age so it just goes to show that, with hard work, dedication and commitment, second chances will come along for them."
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Hoddle has always believed that 18 is too young to make a decision on whether a player will make it or not and the seed of the idea for an academy first grew when he was manager of Chelsea and teenagers were being released from the club around this time of the year.
He said: "I have always felt that it is far too early to make a judgement on them - physically, mentally and technically. People can change a lot in that period between 18 and 21.
"I just always felt that perhaps we were releasing the wrong players or what would they have done if they had had more development time. The problem we have in Britain and sometimes in Germany and Scandinavia is that we haven't got the time to do what we want to do. The weather is very harsh, there is frost on the ground, or there's snow or there's wind and rain, it's miserable and can be dark by 3.30pm."
Hoddle himself does much of the coaching at the academy, joined by other noted former professionals such as Graham Rix and Nigel Spackman, and his long-time assistant John Gorman.
Fagan lived on campus at the academy, based near Seville in southern Spain, which meant sharing a spacious apartment with two other players and using the facilities contained within, which include a swimming pool and a gym, besides the football pitches for the 20 or so young footballers who took part in the first year.
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He was paid a small weekly allowance and the academy were then able to recoup some or all of their costs by selling the player on to Lincoln for an undisclosed fee. The club was impressed by a brief loan spell which Fagan spent at Huddersfield Town and Don Givens's decision to keep picking him for the Republic of Ireland U21 squad also helped maintain his profile.
"It was a year out but I always knew I could get back to a club in England at the end of it. I chose Lincoln rather than go for trials at a club in a higher division because they had shown an interest in me for months and I wanted to start playing league football as soon as possible.
"For now I just want to concentrate on training and getting match-fit and we will take it from there."