N'Golo Kante was the pick of the Chelsea players in their Champions League final win over Manchester City.
Whilst much of the credit will understandably fall on matchwinner Kai Havertz as well as the likes of Reece James and Andreas Christensen, it was the Frenchman who was, for many, the best player on the pitch.
On numerous occasions, Kante was able to stop City attacks with a crucial interception and his performance was praised by former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.
"Wow, what an absolute turn of events. Based on form and being the most dominant this year, I was backing Man City," he said on BT Sport. "But Thomas Tuchel has come and put in a tactical masterclass today, how compact this Chelsea team were today, there were no spaces between them.
"N'Golo] Kante put on a masterclass on how to retrieve the ball, defend, break things up and then be a menace in that midfield, he controlled the game.
"The moment came, clinical, [Kai] Havertz - worth every penny now."
And the Chelsea players recognised Kante's contributions.
Well, at least Kurt Zouma did as the BT Sport cameras captured a special moment of the defender carrying Kante as the post match celebrations got underway.
Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole also heaped praise on Kante.
"He’s staggering. I’m shattered just watching him," he said.
"One of my last games, my legs were gone and this lad came on, I looked at him, he’s about four foot tall, and thought to myself: ‘What does this lad do?’ - he changed the game," Cole said.
"I played with Make (Makelele) who I thought was the best in that position until I saw this kid. He’s got Makelele plus extras."
The Frenchman also drew praise from former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott, who hailed Kante as the "best player in his position."
“I was at Villa, he came on and changed the game," he said.
"They won 3-2 and that was the year they [Leicester] went onto win the league. They’ve had [Claude] Makelele, Ramires - who was exceptional, but this player. Arguably the best in that position ever to play the game.”
