Rodríguez declined the interview. Politely. Firmly. In the way that James Rodríguez declined everything he didn't want to do, with a smile that was both warm and completely non-negotiable. "I will do one interview. At the end of the season. When the story is finished." Elena accepted it without argument.
Zaha went twenty-two minutes. Two over his slot. Elena barely had to ask questions.
Elena: "Tell me about Danny Walsh."
"He told me I was the best winger in England." Zaha paused. Swallowed. "Nobody had ever told me that. Not at United, where they told me I wasn't ready. Not in the media, where they said I was inconsistent. Not my own agent, not my mates, nobody."
He looked directly into the camera. "Danny looked me in the eye in his office, door closed, just us, and said: 'You are the best winger in England. Now go and prove it.' And I believed him. Because he doesn't say things he doesn't mean. He never has. Not once."
Elena: "Did you prove it?"
