It was about five minutes into Frank Lampard's unveiling press conference as Chelsea head coach when the first question about N'Golo Kante arrived.
Unsurprisingly it was about the French World Cup winner's best position after a season under Maurizio Sarri in which he was moved further forward to the irritation of many supporters.
Knowing what we do now - that Lampard also wanted to use Kante in a similar role to his predecessor - it is interesting to note how his answer began.
“Yeah I do [know where he will play] but I am not going to talk about the way that we are going to look next season," the club's record goalscorer said, that now familiar grin as he delivered his answer.
But Lampard then took it as an opportunity to wax lyrical about the squad's only recognised world class talent.
“Kante is one of the greatest midfielders in the world.," Lampard added. "My job is to get the best out of him. I know the quality that he has.”
Unfortunately Kante's campaign has never really taken off as a result of several injuries but in this context it was interesting to read Lampard reiterating that statement in an update on the club website over the weekend.
His last appearance came in defeat to Manchester United in mid-February.
It also likely put to bed speculation linking him with a move away in the next transfer window amid reported interested from Real Madrid.
"We obviously need N’Golo Kante in our team, one of the best players in the world," the head coach said.
"I knew that before becoming manager of Chelsea, I know that from working with him. We unfortunately haven’t been able to have him much this year,but going forward we want him fit and ready to go."
