Having established himself as a Craven Cottage industry in a handful of months, Louis Saha attempts to survive in the world of the corporate giants tonight.
Saha takes his distinctive dreadlocks and deadly finishing to Anfield at what must be considered a disturbing and delicate time for Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier.
The Frenchman is being castigated by disaffected fans for being over-protective to his prize striker, Emile Heskey. They insist that resting Heskey last Sunday cost them three points against Ipswich.
Today, the propaganda emanating from First Division leaders Fulham suggests that the Houllier headache might have developed into a full-blown migraine by the end of Worthington Cup business this evening.
Saha is talked about in almost reverential terms in west London; they will tell you, for instance, how he could out-sprint those flying machines Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry when they trained together in the French youth programme at Clairefontaine.
Karlheinz Riedle, though, supplied the ultimate endorsement when he said: 'I never expected Louis to be this good. He has ability from head to toe.
'He can go such a long way in this profession and he's only at the beginning. He's strong, accomplished in the air and the way he turns is brilliant.
'It's the best I've seen from any player - and what about the acceleration? It's awesome. I think he's quicker than Michael Owen.
'I've seen many players go from zero to 100 very quickly in my time and from 100 to zero if they haven't been too careful, but I don't think this will happen in Louis's case. Perhaps I shouldn't say this because some guys lose their heads and forget the basics, but if Louis keeps going like this, he is going to be a big, big star.'
Riedle's emotions are destined to be swirling like the waters of a Jacuzzi this evening as he takes his place in the players' section of the Anfield stand, with half of his loyalties attached to the English club of his boyhood dreams.
He said: 'You know, I have so many good memories of Liverpool. Each time they play "You'll Never Walk Alone every hair on my neck stands to attention.'
The other, pragmatic half of his Teutonic loyalty will be with his London employers, whom he feels he has seriously short-changed in the past couple of years - notwithstanding the fact that he held the club together as caretaker manager when Paul Bracewell headed for the hills of unemployment and Mohamed Al Fayed considered his options.
When the German striker arrived at Fulham for a knockdown £200,000, he envisaged a couple of glorious years playing lead trumpet on the Al Fayed bandwagon before retirement.
A series of injuries has so far made it impossible for him to repay the perceived debt, yet a reserve match last week indicated that he may be able to lend his expertise to the cause before the season is much older.
He said: 'Time is running out for me. This is the last year of my career and I was really looking forward to it. It's so frustrating being kept out of a team like this, but my neck has been pain free for three weeks, so who knows? Perhaps a comeback is around the corner.'
Riedle's career embraced spells with Werder Bremen, Lazio (where he played alongside Paul Gascoigne) and Borussia Dortmund before he came to England.
At Liverpool, he witnessed the inexorable rise of Michael Owen and now watches Saha and Co, plus the spectacular progress of Jean Tigana, with enthusiasm and respect.
He said: 'Fulham made a very good choice with Tigana. 'Me? I was simply too young to be a manager. You can't expect someone who comes directly from the street to pitch himself into football management.
'The pressures on modern-day coaches are immense and you've got to learn in fine detail all about the pressures. When I'm finished here, I will take a six-month break and then go out to learn my trade from the bottom. It is the only way.'
In the meantime, Riedle will watch, fascinated, as the construction work goes on around this magnificent football pyramid funded by the unlimited resources of Al Fayed.
'The chairman is one of those rare people who make you feel that all things are possible. You can almost see the power coming from his fingertips.
'With him and Tigana, there is simply no end in sight to the dream. When I was at Lazio I saw the rise under Signor Cragnotti and now I'm seeing the same thing at Fulham.
'Liverpool will see for themselves. They will take Fulham extremely seriously. Of that I am sure. Houllier knows the prestige he can take out of this match with Tigana.
'So he will not be putting an easy team on the pitch. Liverpool won't be playing the same game as when they beat Stoke City by eight goals. Tigana - and Saha - will make sure of that.'
Source soccernet By Bryan Cooney