N'Golo Kante has looked back to his brilliant best since Thomas Tuchel was appointed as Chelsea boss in January.
Kante has long been touted as one of Europe's finest midfield talents, with his industrious off-the-ball work proving invaluable to the Blues, as well as France.
The 30-year-old was brought to Stamford Bridge by former manager Antonio Conte in the summer of 2016 after playing a key role in Leicester City's stunning Premier League-winning campaign in 2015/16.
Kante then helped his new club win the Premier League, which meant back-to-back medals for the France international following his arrival to Stamford Bridge.
Conte used Kante largely in a flat two in the centre of the pitch, often alongside Cesc Fabregas, with the Italian coach utilising a three-at-the-back formation with four across midfield.
When Maurizio Sarri was appointed as Chelsea boss, he brought fellow Italian Jorginho to the club and decided he would be the holding midfielder.
Kante was then used as more of an advanced box-to-box midfielder, with Jorginho sitting behind him - something that Frank Lampard replicated in the early stages when he arrived as Blues manager.
Those decisions were regularly questioned by both Chelsea fans and football fans in general, with onlookers having seen Kante at his absolute best in the holding role.
And since Tuchel took over earlier this year, Kante has played in his more orthodox defensive midfielder position and has flourished to another level under the German.
The former Leicester star was integral in Chelsea's Champions League-winning campaign - playing pivotal roles in both of the semi-final legs, as well as the final itself against Manchester City.
It is something former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho had already advised Sarri back in 2019 when talking about the talents the French midfielder possessed and how to get the best out of him.
“If a manager is told that you have four Kantes, you will always find space in the team for four Kantes,” Mourinho told beIN SPORTS at the time.
“He’s so good and he is tremendous in his attitude and his intensity in recovering the ball.
“He is so good that I think he can play in every position. If he plays like people used to see him in a more defensive role, he’s phenomenal in the amount of balls he recovers.
“I think he is phenomenal. The perfect scenario for Chelsea is having three Kantes and play them all in midfield. It would be amazing.”
While Tuchel may not quite have seen the quotes or heeded that advice from Mourinho, it's clear those words still ring true and the Chelsea boss has very much got the best out of Kante in that deeper role.
