How classic Curtis Mayfield lifted Jose Izquierdo's spirits

The Albion winger and his physio Sean Duggan have adopted Curtis Mayfield’s Move On Up as their anthem over the later stages of a marathon battle against injury.

It is a battle which Izquierdo thought he was winning a couple of times, only to suffer setbacks.

Even what should have been the home straight, after a goalscoring return for the under-23s six months ago, turned into another testing, winding road.

But Izquierdo has identified perhaps the toughest moment of his two years.

That came when he found, just as he was making progress with his left knee, he had torn meniscus in his right.

Asked whether there were any really hard moments to come through, he said with his familiar laugh: “Many times!

“But I think the hard one was when they phoned me in Italy when I had the second problem in my knee.

“I was very close to getting back to training.

“I had the problem in my other knee so I had gone to Italy to do the surgery but Covid had just started.

“I didn’t tell any of my family or anyone that I had the problem so as to not put pressure on them or get worried about my situation.

“They phoned me alone in Italy when I had just finished the surgery and they were thinking of locking down in Italy.

“Spain was closed, England was closed, Italy was going to close.

“It was a very difficult moment.

“I was very close to being closed in alone in Italy with nobody to take care of me and just coming out of surgery.

“I was not even doing the rehab because everything was going to close.”

Izquierdo had two weeks in Italy and his best option was to head to Colombia.

But it was very different to his usual trips home to see family.

He said: “It was difficult because I didn’t have all the things there that normally I have here - the gym, the physios.

“It was hard to work there because everything was closed, with the lockdown also, but I think the work I did there went well.

“My family was in lockdown so I didn’t want to put my parents at risk.

“I was like two months without seeing them.

“Just the last month I saw them twice and then I came back.

“After that I came here and finished the rehab.”

Albion fans have great memories of Izquierdo’s spectacular goals and infectious enthusiasm.

They were kept updated on his progress via sporadic and usually quite vague Instagram uploads, several of them during that time in Colombia.

Every so often Graham Potter would be asked for the latest during one of his weekly pre-game Zoom sessions.

Then, when all eyes were on the senior side at Everton one Saturday afternoon in October, Izquierdo’s name suddenly appeared on the under-23s’ team sheet for a game at West Ham.

He duly scored the winner against his favourite opponents and all seemed well.

But even then it was not quite the beginning of the end.

He said: “It was a good moment. It was my first game and I scored so it is a big motivation and shows you are doing things right.

“When I did that I was thinking, ‘I’ve still got it! I still have something’.

“But after that I started to feel muscle problems.

“Again, (I was) low and then stand up again and working again.

“They have been hard times but I think what happened at the weekend is a reward for all that the time.”

Back in Colombia, Izquierdo’s parents were in tears when they saw him enter the action at Bramall Lane last Saturday.

“My mum couldn’t watch the game when she saw I was coming on, she went into the other room to pray!” he revealed.

Men he had played alongside for Albion sent their best wishes via social media.

But that told its own story. Look at the names among the first replies he received on Instagram.

A couple of current players but also Maty Ryan, Aaron Mooy, Beram Kayal, Ezequiel Schelotto, Tomer Hemed and Tim Krul.

Things have moved on since he was last on the pitch.

READ MORE: Jose Izquierdo feared his playing days could be over

The team play a different way, with wing-backs rather than genuine wingers. He appreciates that. But the key thing is to be part of that.

Duggan was the unsung hero of his return.

With Curtis Mayfield providing the backing track.

Izquierdo said: “When I got my second injury in my knee, obviously the situation got harder then than in the beginning. We knew it was more difficult than in the beginning.

“He (Duggan) just showed me that song.

“I had to use the translation on Google but the lyrics are like ‘you are going to make it’.

“So I take that song and obviously that is what happened in the last week. It’s what the song said.

“It’s not just like I did it. I obviously worked for him as well.

“What people don’t see is that not only is he working to help me but also he has family.

READ MORE: Yves Bissoma says Albion deserve to be top ten

“He did a lot of things to keep him away from the family and thinking of me.

“There were many days off which he didn’t take to be with me, to help me recover.

“It’s not just my victory, it’s a victory for him.”

And coming back to the Premier League after he was told it could all be over IS a victory.

For Izquierdo, this return to action is a source of huge pride.

“It’s the proudest thing I’ve felt for myself, even more so because I am coming from a city in Colombia.

“Sometimes you forget where you’ve come from, you live in the moment, and you forget the journey you have made, coming from abroad, no English, growing up watching Premier League games.

“Sometimes I don’t realise where I am and all the things I had to do to get here.

“Many other things have made me proud of myself, but this one was the biggest.

“Nothing else can make me feel how I felt last weekend, because it went against everything, any possibility.

“I did it. I’m very proud of that.”