Any professional who has accumulated 11 different clubs in as many countries in the space of 13 years is bound to be followed by the muttered question: Is it that he tires quickly of places, or that they tire of him?
Christian Wilhelmsson has an active agent, certainly, but he also has a portfolio of assets rare enough that coaches and strategists at clubs with resources keep making offers for the 33-year-old Swede. What Baniyas have acquired is a man with a strong streak of individualism but also in his vision of the game.
Wilhelmsson the dueller, attacking from a starting position close to right or left touchline can be a thrilling sight, with his confident close control, and the feints and sways of his tall, willowy frame. These aspects of the winger's craft please a crowd.
But Wilhelmsson's long tour around the glamour leagues of European football owes more to his fine execution of a piercing cross.
That skill persuaded the likes of Roma, under Luciano Spalletti, a coach who appreciates width; and Bolton Wanderers, then an English Premier League team whose attacking game plan prized swift service to a target-man, to recruit Wilhelmsson when still in his 20s.
Yet he has also spent a significant tranche of his career on the substitutes' bench, perceived as an impact player, one who can offer something unique, but under specific match conditions, a man to stretch a wearying defence rather than fray it for 90 minutes.
