After Inigo Calderon quit playing football in 2019, he planned to travel the world for a year, indulging his fondness for “going out and feeling free”.

Instead, he ended up in management, and now finds himself in the Hong Kong Premier League, leading Kitchee’s resurgence.

The 43-year-old threw himself into Hong Kong’s mountains and hiking trails to banish initial feelings of being stifled by the weather, crowds and noise, but he has begun generating plenty of commotion of his own.

So ordinary for the past two seasons, Kitchee are top of the table under Calderon.

Calling himself “not a typical footballer”, the Spaniard said he “didn’t have a Porsche or a Ferrari, I had a camper van” during a playing career that peaked during six seasons in England with Brighton & Hove Albion.

But rather than stay on the road, Calderon was tempted back to coach with former club Alaves a month after his retirement. “Things change so much,” he said. “You don’t want to be out of football for too long; you have to take chances when they come.”