That barely worked 10 years ago, much less now. Portaltown, USA. Just nature of the beast these days.
No this is an art. Softly whisper sweet nothings about giving it a try. It will be fun.. etc, then you slowly train him, coach him until he gets a taste of success… then you point to immediate playing time.
The key is balancing his ego (still playing WR) during this process & at the end, he thinks the final decision was his idea all along. Manipulation101.
/rarely work, not worth the effort usually.. but doable