Vincent Enyeama's seven-month battle with injury finally came to an official end last weekend when he turned out for Lille's U18s.
With victory won on that flank, another battlefront opens ahead of him - a two-pronged assault on getting fit in time for consideration for Nigeria's World Cup squad, and the corollary of whether or not he can dislodge Lille's new goalkeeper "Magic" Mike Maignan in the process.
Only recently, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, a big advocate for getting Enyeama back into the Super Eagles for the World Cup, told KweséESPN that any talk of the goalkeeper returning would be unfair as he would need to get fit, play matches and return to form.
Rohr's desire to have Enyeama back is understandable. His current options at the position have not exactly been beacons of goalkeeping confidence, and with potential clashes against Croatia, Iceland and perpetual nemesis Argentina lurking at the World Cup, the German knows he needs a reliable pair of hands behind his defence.
But the last seven months have been as tough as they have been unfamiliar territory for the man who would offer Rohr redemption. Tough in more ways than one.
First, that layoff marked the longest the goalkeeper had been sidelined by injury in his professional career, and it came at a particularly bad time for him.
To start with, a highly-publicised bust-up with national team coach Sunday Oliseh saw him retire prematurely from international football. As if that was not bad enough, not long after, his new club coach Marcelo Bielsa considered him surplus to requirements and looked to ship him out along with 8 other senior players.
Again, that was uncharted territory for Enyeama, who was used to being top choice goalkeeper since he broke into the Enyimba first team and took over from Andrew Aikhomogbe in 2001.
In that respect, the injury probably came at an opportune moment for the 35-year-old, allowing him plenty of time for introspection, and to contemplate his next career move.
Sources close to the player have told KweséESPN that offers have come in from within France, Turkey and other European leagues. There have even been inquiries from the MLS, but Enyeama had chosen instead to focus on his recovery.
With those seven months to recover and consider those options, it is now time to focus on the immediate future, starting with whether he can dislodge 'Magic Mike'. The good news is that Bielsa, who sent him to the dog house, has himself been given the boot, raising hopes that he could return to the side.
The major, bad news is that his replacement Maignan has proved to be the shining light in what has proven to be a dismal season for Lille. The 22-year-old, whose first taste of action with Lille was to stop a penalty kick when Enyeama was sent off against Rennes in 2015, has gone on to make a name for himself as a penalty repellant.
He has made four stops from eight penalty kick attempts, but more than that, and has been so affective as Lille's last line of defense, it would probably take a spectacular loss of form or injury for Maignan to lose that spot.
As a result, for the veteran Nigerian is to get regular minutes over the coming six months, his option would be a move away from Lille.
That option is complicated by his high wages and the fact that he would reportedly prefer to remain in France for personal reasons.
Beyond that however, is whether the player himself is prepared to make a u-turn and add to his 101 caps for the Super Eagles.
Rohr has expressed confidence that he will, but former Nigeria international Idah Peterside was recently quoted as saying that Enyeama told him he was tired of playing for Nigeria, and was not keen on returning.
In which case, and without the proverbial monkey of a race against time to be match fit for the World Cup on his back, the goalkeeper might chose to stay at Lille and work his way back to full match fitness or run his contract out before making a move.
Either way, it would appear that for Enyeama, the priority would be first and foremost to do what is best for Vincent Enyeama. After that, anything else would be the cherry on the cake.
After 15 years of high level football, 13 of those representing the national team, few would argue that he deserves it.