Time has not told on Ben Davies.
When he meets The Athletic in an air-conditioned room away from the scorching heat of the Japanese leg of Tottenham Hotspur’s Asian tour, he looks like the same 21-year-old who arrived from Swansea in 2014.
The hair is the same. His gentle south Welsh lilt has survived a decade in England. Around him, however, everything about Tottenham has changed — most obviously, the manager (four times, not including caretakers) and the stadium.
Davies has been a steady beat, but the 31-year-old has not simply survived at Spurs. He has quietly and continuously reinvented himself, becoming whatever each coach needed him to be.
An orthodox full-back under Mauricio Pochettino. A third centre-back for Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and, often, Wales. Last season, his first under Ange Postecoglou, he did a bit of everything, becoming an ‘inverted’ full-back along the way.