Ella Toone has tied her leg to an ice compression machine when she signs up to talk to Mail Sport.
It is no wonder that the 25-year-old from Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, played 6,471 minutes for Marc Skinner in the WSL since he took the leadership of United Lady Team four years ago, more than any other player.
It was also an eventful few years, where Toone settled himself as one of the biggest names in the game, helped by her preference for the big moments and rewarded with United's vice-capincy.
'Destined for quantity' is how her school friend and Olympic 800m champion Koley Hodgkinson recently described Toone. Whether it is about scoring the opener in a euro-final or in the first FA Cup-winning final of United, it is fair to say that the midfielder, with her thick Lancashire accent and a dry sense of humor, found her groove under Skinner.
“Since he came in, he really believed in me,” she says. 'I think I have grown up so much in the time I worked with him. The way I play on the field, but also the way I keep myself off. I worked very hard with him in my way of thinking. '
During his term of office, the United boss confronted with his fair share of criticism, fueled by a series of high-profile departure such as Mary Earps and Alessia Russo, as well as a dip in versions last season.
That criticism has since come to a halt, with United on a Women's Champions League spot and still on the right track in the FA Cup, and Toon believes that the team deserves more credit for it. What she does not say is that she – one of the most important, passionate and dedicated players of United – also earns the compliments.
'Looking back on last season, it was not the season that we wanted as a club and as players, but we now have a number of new players and we are really hungry to do well.
'We really bought Marc's playing style and he knows that he has an energetic team with many players who are willing to run brick walls, and we really gathered as a team and have shown it in our versions.
'I think we slide a bit under the radar. You have the “Big Three” teams from Chelsea, City and Arsenal, and we are up there, compete with them.
'But I think we don't really suffer from what other people think. We have a good group of girls, really good staff, and if we are under the radar, that's fine. We continue our company and continue. '
Toone experienced the heartbreaking loss of her father last September, which coincided with an unfortunate calf injury, and she says that Skinner was someone she was looking for in this difficult time.
'He was there during the most difficult part of my entire life and he brought me through it. I know that his door is always open, and I can have an honest conversation with him and ask for advice, but also, if I need a shoulder to lean on, I know I can lean on him.
“So yes, he's really good for me. He has put his faith on me and he played me. I can't argue with a manager who wants me to play. '
A product from the United Youth Academy, Toone was forced to leave the club in 2013 with the glazers that the ladies team dissolved. But this 'little girl with a big dream' to play for her youth team returned when she heard that United had successfully accessed the newly formed women's championship for the 2018-19 season.
A passionate United fan that grew up with the idolat of Cristiano Ronaldo, everyone who gets the chance to meet tone, is quickly dragged by the tangible sense that she lives her dream.
'I know what is needed to play at Manchester United, and I know what it means for the fans, for the players, for the staff to put on and play that shirt for such a big club.
'When the new players come in, I ensure that they know about Manchester United – how to play with that passion. It is a huge sense of playing for this team and one that I will never take for granted. '
The playmaker received the famous No. 7 shirt worn by club legends David Beckham, Eric Cantona and, of course, Ronaldo. Her is consistently the most sold ladies shirt in the United Megastore.
“It is a pinch-me-moment every time I see it and every time I put it on, I think:” Wow. I was a little girl with a big dream and one who was probably not possible at the time and now I get on the field for Manchester United and I wear the number seven shirt of my idol. “
'And everyone knows what number seven means to be united. It is a large number, and many legends have worn that shirt earlier, and hopefully I can come under that bracket if I also pass it on. '
But what makes one of the most recognizable female players of the game of all the noise around the club and the travel direction?
'We don't really look too far ahead. We are now in the moment, and that takes every game as it comes. We want to be on a journey, we want to see the vision of where the club is going, but for us we want to win trophies. '
Toone will strive for more memorable moments with England in the euro in July, and she quickly defends the concern about whether she and her promising teammate of United and Lionesses, Grace Clinton, can exist next to the same team.
“I don't see that,” she says. 'When I played with Grace, she played really well and scored many goals, and vice versa.
“She only returned to United this season and I had a bit of an injury, so I was out of the team for a while, and it takes time to build those relationships, but I think we complement each other very well.”
Toone spoke with Mail Sport through her collaboration with Specsavers and their work with Tunley Athletic, 'Britain's Worst Football Team'-a 100-year-old club that lost all 26 of their games last season.
It costs a moment of reflection, but Toone remembers playing in an under -performance side – one that she helped to set up while she was still at school. Her schoolmate, Hodgkinson, recently remembered the team in an ITV interview, the medium distance runner made jokes about her own involvement that played in Toone's side as 'a bit of a stretch'.
“I just got the ball and ran through everyone, so it didn't matter,” Toon adds with a grin.
And it is precisely that kind of trust that the nation will trust this summer, with Tone Ready and Waiting to shine in the largest stages again.
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