HE'S NOT QUITE a journeyman, but it is safe to say Tolgay Arslan's football career has been -- literally -- a journey.
An adventure even. One filled with vastly different experiences that should perhaps come as no surprise given his heritage.
He was born to Turkish parents in August of 1990, just under a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in Paderborn -- which was still classified as part of West Germany before the nation's reunification was finalised shortly after.
His early days as an aspiring footballer saw him learn his craft in nearby Borussia Dortmund but his professional career would begin 300 kilometres north of his hometown -- nearly a four-hour drive -- with Hamburg.
Almost inevitably, his first move outside Germany took him to Turkey -- where he played for two giants in Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe -- and then had taste of the Mediterranean in Italy with Udinese.
When he finally ventured outside the continent, it was quite the trek that led Arslan halfway around the world to Australia, itself a melting pot of diverse cultures and a country he reveals he always dreamt of living in. Having relatives in the city made joining Melbourne City an easy decision.
In search of his latest escapade back in the summer, Arslan has now landed in a city he says "feels alive", in a country whose emphasis on tradition and old-school principles mirrors the values his father instilled in him from a young age.
With it, Arslan has also found himself leading what originally seemed an unlikely title challenge.
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA ARE one of Japan's biggest clubs.
They existed as far back as 1938 and were a founding member of both the now-defunct Japan Soccer League in 1965, as well as its successor -- the current J.League -- in 1992.
They have three J1 League titles to their names, along with three Emperor's Cups and one J.League Cup, and have featured in Japanese football's top flight in all but two seasons in its 32-year history.
But it has now been almost a decade since they were last champions of Japan.
Just back at the end of June, it looked impossible that this would be the year their wait for a fourth J1 crown would come to an end.
With debutants Machida Zelvia remarkably leading the way and threatening to pull off the biggest fairy-tale run Japanese football has ever witnessed, Sanfrecce were at one point 12 points off the pace down in fifth. If anyone would stop Zelvia, the likes of Kashima Antlers and Vissel Kobe loomed more probable candidates.
That Sanfrecce were even still an outside chance was significantly due to an 11-goal haul from Yuki Ohashi, but he would no longer be at their disposal in the second half of the season having earned a move to Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers.
Desperately needing fresh firepower, Sanfrecce would make two notable midseason signings. One of them, fresh off a superb campaign in the A-League, was Arslan.
And it was a familiar face -- Sanfrecce coach Michael Skibbe -- that made his decision to move to Hiroshima a little more straightforward.
"I've known Michael Skibbe since I was a young kid," said Arslan, in an exclusive interview with ESPN. "I had a good feeling so I decided to just do it.
"I had a good season (with Melbourne City) and, at one point in my (summer) holidays, Michael Skibbe called me with (assistant coach) Serhat Umar and asked how was my situation.
"I wanted to give my career, even my life, something new. It's one of the biggest gifts that football could have given me -- (the chance) to see different countries, and I've always heard good things about Japan and its people.
"It's never easy to come in midseason but the coaches Michael Skibbe and Serhat Umar made it easier for me to adapt.
"The only issue I had was that I came straight from holiday. I had to be fit. Now I feel good and ready for the last five games."
FIVE MORE GAMES. That's what stands between Sanfrecce and a first J1 League crown in nine years.
They're no longer making up ground either.
After incredibly chasing down those ahead of them to now lead by one point over defending champions Vissel -- with Zelvia now six points off the pace in third -- the title is Sanfrecce's to lose.
Not that any sort of loss is ever allowed in Arslan's mind.
"It (challenging for the title) is something big," he admitted. "I realised fast that the league is very, very hard. It's high quality and, really, everyone can beat everyone. You don't have easy games.
"I would say, with my mentality and confidence, the players can look to me. We had some games where it was a draw till the end and I felt like everyone accepted that. It's not my style.
"I want to win. I could help impact (the mindset) that we go into every game to win. No draws or losses.
"When I came here, I saw that we were fifth or 6th and nine or ten points to first place. But when I signed, I said I'm here to be the champions.
"Now, I have the feeling that everyone believes in that. I don't know if that was the same (before) I arrived. I can feel even the city -- every person on the street -- believes."
FOR THE AVERAGE person from outside the continent, Asian football may not be that familiar a proposition.
Arslan recalls extremely impressed even by second-tier Ventforet Kofu when they met Melbourne City in the AFC Champions League last season, which was the first spark behind his desire to try out the J.League.
He believes many foreign signings in previous years might have underestimated the quality of the competition and subsequently struggled.
There are young prospects in the J1 League who Arslan -- having seen them up close -- believes could easily play at a higher level. Basically Europe.
Yet, perhaps Arslan isn't a complete stranger to Asian football. He does, after all, share a special friendship with someone is already in the conversation over the continent's greatest player ever -- a certain Son Heung-Min, who he came through the youth ranks of Hamburg with.
Back in May, a social media post of the duo went viral as they reunited while Son's Tottenham were in Melbourne for a postseason friendly with fellow Premier League outfit Newcastle, who were also taking on an A-League All Stars team which featured Arslan.
"As soon as we knew 'Sonny' was coming to Melbourne, we were talking a lot," Arslan recalled. "I didn't have the chance to see him in the last three or four years. He was on national team (duty), I would have a league game - it was quite hard.
"It was just funny for us that we couldn't see each other in Europe when we were close to each other. Then we meet at the (other) end of the world. We were just laughing and it was a special moment for us.
"He's the best guy I've ever met. In our time, it was harder for young kids to play in the first team. It was just me and Sonny in Hamburg so we spent a lot of time even outside the academy or the A team.
"Sometimes we would be with Sonny's family, other times he would be in my house. It was just a special time for us. My wife even said that she didn't know if I was with her or with Sonny!"
With such a close bond with a young Son, did Arslan ever know the South Korea international would go on to be the world-class talent he is today?
"You could see Sonny had a really special gift," Arslan added. "He was very talented (but) you can see many talented players in Europe.
"His father did a lot for him. The hard work, even with his dad, brought him -- in my opinion -- to another level.
"That's why, maybe, he's the best Asian player who's ever played football. He's not just performing one year. He's done it for ten years at a very, very high level.
"It's talent but also hard, hard work. He deserves to be the best and, for me, he is the best."
THERE ARE REGRETS, as there always will be in football -- and in life. Even more so in a journey as expansive as Arslan's.
He concedes there are things he might have done differently. He says the way his time with Melbourne City concluded -- with an elimination final loss to local rivals Melbourne Victory -- was not what he had envisioned.
For all his prodigious talent and having represented both Turkey and Germany at U-21 level, timing -- maybe even luck -- meant he never tasted senior international football.
Still, Arslan is a 'glass half full' type.
He is "thankful to God" for a talent that has allowed him to provide for his family, which now includes a wife and three children who are with him in Hiroshima.
He is fluent in four languages and has studied sports management, with a sporting director role his target once he hangs up his boots.
That might have to wait a while longer with Arslan still enjoying the playing part of football, even though he jokes that he initially thought moving outside Europe might allow him to take it a little easier with training sessions -- only to be greeted with a rude shock with the intensity levels in Australia and Japan even higher.
Whatever he is doing on the training ground, it is certainly paying off. He has scored seven goals in just nine league appearances since joining, including a brace in only his second match -- a 2-0 win over Cerezo Osaka -- and a crucial hat-trick in a 3-2 victory over FC Tokyo.
He says he isn't in Japan for a holiday and wants to leave something for the people of Hiroshima to remember him by. In five games' time, he might just give them the biggest present of all.
This is just but the latest chapter of Arslan's well-travelled and storied career which has already given him a lifetime of memories, an enduring friendship and even two league titles during his time with Beşiktaş.
His sense of adventure -- in the autumn of his career -- might just land him a third in Japan.