Shaun Maloney: A little bit of Scotland remains at Euro 2020 to help steer Belgium

Shaun Maloney has been alongside friend and mentor Roberto Martinez for three years

It's been a hell of a time for Shaun Maloney. Linked one minute with a return to Celtic as part of a new coaching regime and the next to Barcelona as part of a management set-up headed by his friend and mentor Roberto Martinez.

None of that has come to pass and none of it probably will. What matters is not mad rumour, but even madder reality.

On Friday night, Maloney, 47 caps for Scotland and a serial trophy winner with Celtic, will be where he has been for the past three years - at Martinez's side. Belgium are attempting to overcome a tasty Italian side in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 and the 38-year-old is an integral part of the backroom plot to bring down Roberto Mancini's men.

• Belgium v Italy: Preview & team news

As a player, Maloney tried and failed to make it to a major championship, but here he is in a different guise in the business end of the tournament.

He says he became emotional when Scotland finally qualified to play on the big stage for the first time in 23 years, almost being reduced to tears by that dramatic penalty shootout win against Serbia to reach the finals. The Scots are now out, of course. The nation has only one man left standing.

"Look, we've got a chance," he says, by way of an understatement. "We've got an amazing team, our players are at an amazing level, so yeah, why not? Let's see what happens.

"There is pressure, but it doesn't ever feel like that in the camp. I absolutely understand why there is that level of expectancy. It's because of the players we have. But it feels more like a supportive pressure rather than the opposite. That's the feeling I get. It's a good pressure.

"The players have to do media, they have to do certain things. They might get asked different things, but the feeling I get from everybody is supportive."

'I want to deliver something at the elite level'

Everybody who knew Maloney in his playing days, which came to an end in 2017 after two years with Hull City, would have bet the house on him getting involved in coaching. He was a sponge for new ideas, he read voraciously and studied the methods of some of the most interesting football minds.

Maloney and Martinez go back to their days together at Wigan Athletic, the Spaniard bringing in what he called an "elite brain" to work with the all-star cast in his ranks. Maloney's an intelligent man with a thirst for knowledge and a work ethic that has endeared him to the superstars in the Belgium set-up.

In the beginning, he had to win them over, but there was never any doubt about his capacity to do it. He went around Europe to build relationships with them, from Spain to Germany, from Italy to England and beyond. One trophy-laden player after another, one massive club after another - and he relished the challenge.

"The level of player is high, so I don't see it as pressure," adds Maloney. "I just feel like it's a motivating factor that we have players at such an elite level. I want to deliver something that is at that level. That's what drives me on.

"It sounds easy to say, but I just assist Roberto on the pitch. The main tactical part of the session will be led by Roberto and there'll be different technical things before or after it that I will take or jointly take.

"I'd say 60% of a session will be Roberto. He'll lead the tactical stuff and the rest of it will be taken by myself and a few others."

The calibre of player he's dealing with is, of course, extraordinary and exhilarating. "Outstanding talents and absolutely terrific people," he says before listing the magnitude of their achievements at club level.

Thibaut Courtois in goal - a La Liga title with Atletico Madrid, another with Real Madrid and three Premier League medals with Chelsea.

Eden Hazard - a league title with Lille, two more with Chelsea, another with Real Madrid. Kevin de Bruyne - three Premier League titles with Manchester City. Romelu Lukaku - one league championship with Anderlecht and a second with Inter Milan. Axel Witsel - a Russian league winner. Thomas Vermaelen - four La Ligas and one Champions League with Barcelona.

Shaun Maloney earned 47 caps for Scotland but failed to help guide them to a major tournament

These guys are dripping with silver, domestic, European, individual and collective. It's an astonishing array of honours. Maloney has trophies galore from his time at Celtic - and a 2013 FA Cup win with Wigan - but this is different gravy.

"This is the elite of the elite," he says. "It's a privilege to work them. Kevin is the best player in his position in the world, I would argue. So many of them have done incredible things with their clubs in all different countries, but the hunger to win something for Belgium is enormous."

'We have big personalities, and we'll need them'

There are 1,398 caps in this Belgian side and 250 goals. The top two all-time Belgium goalscorers are in this squad - Lukaku with 63 and Hazard on 32.

Six of the country's top seven all-time appearance-makers are also in this squad. Five of them have 100 or more caps, four more have 80-plus. They come from Real Madrid and Spurs, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, Inter Milan and Napoli. Between them, they've won every prize from the big leagues, every trophy worth winning in Europe and some Fifa Club World Cups to boot.

Their ambition has not yet been fulfilled at national level, though. Maloney is one of them now. In these weeks, he is as much Belgian as he is Scottish. Perhaps more so.

"Everybody talks about Kevin and Eden and Romelu and the attacking players, but we have outstanding defenders, big personalities and we'll need them," he adds. "Nobody ever won anything by just having the best forwards. It's an all-round team you need."

Watch out for Maloney on Friday. He'll be the diminutive character in the background, watching everything like a hawk, as cool as a breeze in the midst of the maelstrom. A little bit of Scotland still at the heart of the action.

• The pledges Brexit made: Have the promises of the Leave campaign been kept?

• Bloodlands: A chilling cold case is reopened with an assassin on the loose