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Adam Radwan was looking to leave English rugby after falling out of love with the game a little over a year ago.
It all changed when Leicester Tigers contacted the then-Newcastle winger.
Within two days of a hastily arranged meeting, he was calling Mattioli Woods Welford Road was his new home.
The 28-year-old has racked up 20 tries in 24 appearances for Tigers in the 12 months since, and pressed a claim for an England recall when England boss Steve Borthwick names his Six Nations squad on Friday.
When talking to BBC Sport in late 2025, Radwan explained just how different things could have been if not for former Leicester head coach Michael Cheika getting in touch last term.
“I was probably in quite a strange place with rugby – I’d probably fallen out of love with it a little bit,” he said.
“Due to various things, I had made the decision that I wanted to speak to them [Newcastle] about leaving the club.
“There hadn’t been any chats with Leicester [at the time] so I was pretty confident that I would be going abroad somewhere.”
Before being told that Leicester wanted to speak, Radwan “didn’t even think it was an opportunity” open to him.
The winger from North Yorkshire had been with Newcastle for almost a decade, having been plucked from the lower reaches of the English game where he was playing for Billingham to move to Kingston Park as senior academy prospect.
He scored 59 tries in 128 appearances for Newcastle, earned his first England call-up and grabbed a hat-trick on his international debut against Canada in July 2021.
He would play and score another international try before the year was out, but has not won another cap since.
Before Leicester got in touch, the notion of challenging for a spot with England had become far fetched enough to think about leaving the Prem and ending whatever immediate hopes of international rugby he may have had.
“As soon as they were interested, I was interested,” he said.
“I spoke to Cheika who was unbelievable. And I’ve obviously not worked with many coaches, but he is absolutely exceptional.
“I came down for the meeting and it was first about coming for the next season [2025-26]. Then in the meeting I was asked how I would feel about joining for the last block of that season.
“And when I got home, I got a phone call asking how I would feel about coming in two days. It changed so fast, it was pretty hectic and pretty exciting.
“It was an absolute no-brainer and it was probably the only club in England that I would want to stay and play for.”
Getty ImagesRadwan’s impact at Leicester was prolific and instant, scoring 11 tries in 11 games to help them reach the Premiership Grand Final last season.
And while it did not get him ushered straight back to the England fold, he was back on the international radar.
Radwan was called up to the England squad for the Autumn internationals, but failed to make Test appearance.
Instead he came off the bench for the second-string England A side that lost to a New Zealand XV in November.
When talking to BBC Radio Leicester last year about being left out of the England team after being recalled, he admitted there was “frustration and disappointment”, but was quick to add that there was no time for him to “mope around and feel sorry for yourself”.
Instead, he said he took the experience as added motivation.
“You get a little taste of being back in that environment” he went on to tell BBC Sport.
“And it’s like fuel – it keeps you going and keeps you really focused on what you want to get out of it.”
The twice-capped international adds that breaking back into the England team – edging to the front of the rich options of wingers available to Borthwick – is not something he is preoccupied by.
Not that he is now playing and scoring at an incredible rate for a Tigers side that are fifth in the Prem table and looking to challenge for silverware once again this season.
“I’m trying not to think about anything else other than playing for Leicester, because I genuinely enjoy it so much. I love playing for this club,” he said.
“I’m extremely grateful to be here. Whatever comes off the back of that will come.
“As a worst-case scenario I’ll be playing for Leicester, and I will just love it.”
