Graham Potter's early burst of Chelsea form is all the more positive when considering arguably his best player is yet to kick a ball.
With injury troubles already effecting selection and issues expected to crop up in the coming high-speed six-weeks of football, Potter's use of his squad will be just as important as anything else he does over the next 11 games. Add into this that Chelsea's own superstar and their truly world-class, established midfielder N'Golo Kante is still recovering, and there's reason to be happy.
Chelsea's midfield is, at least in the medium-term, the most problematic of all the areas of the squad. Ageing players that wear weaknesses with pride, out of contract players that aren't truly worth another deal and the promise of an almighty tussle for any potential summer targets. It's not unfeasible that come July 2023, Chelsea's most senior midfielder is Ruben Loftus Cheek or Mateo Kovacic.
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They're both fine players but neither is strong enough alone to carry the burden of a position that has held the club back. Potter has found another new role for Loftus-Cheek but Kante's addition at some point in the next few weeks will be a welcome site.
Potter will have the World Cup and Champions League winner on trial, effectively. Okay, N'Golo, show us what you can do. Other than the fact that everybody knows 'what N'Golo can do,' the 47-year-old has a big business decision to make, if Todd Boehly and the sporting director in waiting - Christoph Vivell - allow him. The pair may feel that they are best placed to make the call, maybe they are.
This does throw up the question for Kante as to where next? To bleaky conquer France with Paris Saint-Germain? It does make sense. As a Frenchman it would be a return home and his legs could be amply saved for Champions League knockout ties, perfect.
Maybe to Real Madrid. What Carlo Ancelotti would do to get a hold of Kante. But Los Blancos are restyling their own midfield with expensive young stars set to dominate the world game for the next decade like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Where else? Does anyone else see sense through the foggy risk of having a Kante.
Arsene Wenger knows a place. In a backwards world, Arsenal are top of the table and Kante is fighting for top four, hold on, press reset, something has gone wrong. But no, Mikel Arteta's young and hungry Gunners side, in for Kante? It's a rumour that never made sense, really, but maybe it does now.
Chelsea would actually be willing to let him go, they owe it to the 31-year-old to have his own choice of destination and Arsenal wouldn't be paying much, if anything, for a great player. The interest across London has been there a while, and Wenger regrets not snatching him up, twice.
"He is one of the most influential midfielders I’ve seen play football," Wenger said in 2018. "He constantly makes simple decisions and never overcomplicates it.
“Have I looked to sign Kante? Yes. When he was in France and when he was at Leicester. I cannot explain everything but it is quite obvious when you look at where he has gone. Was it the money? I do not want to talk about that. Transfers are transfers – you cannot explain absolutely everything.”
Chelsea managed to get Kante for a tiny £32m in 2017 and he has gone on to win the league, Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup as well as FA Cup since joining. Perhaps a move to Arsenal has never been more scary though. Whereas the Gunners have felt peripheral to Chelsea's challenges, with Arteta's side on top form and Kante still a brilliant option, when fit, the thought of him at the Emirate is daunting.
Wenger doesn't see him clashing with Granit Xhaka either, a factor that would be an issue given the Swiss midfielders redemption this season. “They are different types of players," he added. "Xhaka is more in the distribution of the pass through the lines and Kante is more the ball winner with the real technique to steal the ball without making the foul. You can compare more Kante with Francis Coquelin more than with Xhaka. Xhaka is more a distribution player.”
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