Ismail Maill Lundgren

He returned north with FC Stockholm Internazionale, signed on a free transfer, and spent close to a season and a half there before Degerfors IF brought him into Allsvenskan football.

The move up did not translate into a settled first-team place. Within months of joining Degerfors he was loaned out to Sandvikens IF in the Superettan, a step back down the divisions that suggested the fit at his parent club had not worked as hoped. A year later, another loan followed, this time abroad to Norwegian side Ranheim IL.

The most significant development in his career arrived off the pitch entirely. He had yet to make his competitive debut for the national side at the time of the call-up, but the recognition marked a new chapter for a player whose club career had, until then, moved sideways through the lower reaches of Swedish and Nordic football.