When media-shy Mario Balotelli agreed to an interview last year, the staff at Nice could not believe the warmth with which he greeted the man who would be asking the questions. 'It's Chappy!' he announced as he was reunited with the ageing interviewer in the south of France.
Chappy is Les Chapman, the former Manchester City kit man of 17 years. We find him amid the charcoal skies and howling winds of Saddleworth Moor, where a dense fog and swirling rain have blurred the view of the burnt-out mill which teeters behind his sandstone house.