Tanguy Ndombele could only watch on from the substitutes' bench at Crystal Palace on Saturday on a day when Tottenham were crying out for some creativity.
Not taking to the pitch for the Lilywhites since the 2-1 home defeat against Aston Villa back in May, the Frenchman's future had become a major talking point ahead of the summer transfer deadline after again making it clear to the club that he wanted to depart.
Continuing to train with the Spurs first team since his return to pre-season training at the start of July, Nuno Espirito Santo had previously left him out of his matchday squad altogether before naming him in his plans at Selhurst Park.
Always unlikely to start against the Eagles having not played a single minute since the middle of May, Ndombele was an option from the bench for the boss if he needed someone to spark the game to life, yet he never turned to him despite the Lilywhites only mustering two shots on goal across 90 minutes.
Not a good performance at all by Tottenham after heading into the London derby on the back of three successive Premier League wins, fans pointed to the head coach's decision not to bring on either Ndombele or Bryan Gil to help change the game.
Appearing set to introduce the Spaniard before Japhet Tanganga's red card, Espirito Santo was asked in his post-match press conference about why Gil or Ndombele didn't get any minutes despite his team's struggles.
"He [Gil] didn't come on because I didn't decide to put him on first," he said.
"Like you say, I think you saw, our idea previously was just the right moment, then the precise moment we're to make the sub we're made one man less and we had to find the balance of the team again, to go for a defender, so the decision was made based on that."
Needing to get back to winning ways following the manner of the defeat, Tottenham have the chance to do so on Thursday evening when they travel to Rennes for their opening game in Group G of the Europa Conference League.
A game in which the head coach is likely to switch things about with one eye on Sunday's encounter against Chelsea, the European tie hands Espirito Santo the perfect opportunity to unleash Ndombele for the first time in his Tottenham tenure.
As one or both of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp could be rested for the clash at Roazhon Park, the absence of Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli's regular football this term could well work in the Frenchman's favour with alterations expected to take place in midfield.
A team Ndombele knows well from his time playing in France, it seems the ideal game to ease him in and give him some much-needed pitch time to boost his fitness as European fixtures don't have the same pace and intensity of Premier League matches.
Tottenham's European fixtures appeared to suit Ndombele more in his first season at the club and the hope is that he will be able to catch Espirito Santo's eye to give him something to really think about ahead of the Chelsea match.
The French international can be a major asset to Spurs in the head coach's 4-3-3 system, especially as he can be the man to link up midfield and attack with his creative play.
Quite clearly missing a bit of spark in the final third at Crystal Palace - and in other games so far this season - Ndombele and Bryan have the qualities to answer the problem Espirito Santo needed to solve last Saturday.
Now set to remain a Tottenham player for the coming months after a summer transfer didn't come to fruition, it is now down to the ex-Lyon man to show why he should be in the team week in, week out after so much uncertainty over his future this summer.
Thursday is the ideal time to do just that, thus in turn potentially giving Espirito Santo a huge midfield decision to make as a result as he looks to plot the downfall of Thomas Tuchel's in-form Chelsea side on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham are going to need some magic in the final third against their rivals and Ndombele can do just that.
