Raphinha was convinced his Barcelona story was over. He felt undervalued, he'd lost faith in himself, and in his own mind the exit door was already open.
Two years on, the Brazilian is one of the leaders in the Catalan dressing room, and he returns to that episode to show just how much a few supportive words can shift someone's mindset.
Sport newspaper carried some of Raphinha's remarks from an interview with The Guardian during the most recent international break. "I knew deep down that I was going to leave," he said. "I had already made my decision mentally."
Everything shifted when Hansi Flick, barely through the door as Barcelona coach, picked up the phone and asked him not to decide anything before the pair had spoken.
"He told me that he trusted me, and that I would be an important player," Raphinha explained. "In a moment like that, a few words can change you."
That conversation handed him back the self-confidence he'd mislaid. "I have always said that Flick changed my mentality, and changed me on a personal level," he added.
The numbers back up the mood. In eight matches this season, Raphinha has scored 14 goals and provided 3 assists in the Catalan side's shirt.
His team-mates played their part too. When the squad voted him in as captain, he realised others saw qualities in him he hadn't spotted himself.
"It was like flicking a switch," he admitted. "Others were seeing something in me that I had not discovered myself. That is what changed me."
The armband now means far more to him than a strip of fabric. "You feel that you are an important person, and that is an honour. It is not simply a matter of wearing the armband."
All of that shapes how he handles the youngsters. In a dressing room mixing teenagers with hardened professionals, the Brazilian reckons listening, backing people up and picking the right moment to step in matter enormously.
Lamine Yamal gets particular attention. Raphinha steps in when he spots the teenager drifting or switching off from what's happening around him, and he works on keeping team-mates such as Jordon calm.
Young players, he believes, need role models close by, people who will correct their mistakes without losing sympathy for them.
"Sometimes you have to act in a fatherly way, because they are children," he explained. "But they understand that. And if you tell them off, they know you are doing it for their own good."