It is an odd kind of fame when few recognise your face but many know your name. That is the level for Cherno Samba, who seemed destined to play for England as a teenage footballer but is now best known for his brilliance in an alternate universe, the video-game Championship Manager.
He, or his digital double, is so beloved that a customs official who recognised the name on his passport got him out of a scrape at Heathrow after a questionable trip to Iran, where he had travelled for an aborted transfer. He had a personalised numberplate but took it off his car because too many drivers beeped excitedly at him on the motorway.