Mateo Kovacic once again proved himself to be one of Chelsea's premiere players against Al-Hilal on Wednesday evening.
The Croatian midfielder earned the man of the match award as the Blues progressed to the Club World Cup final against Palmeiras, and once again proved himself worthy of being alongside Jorginho and N'Golo Kante.
Speaking following Chelsea's win, Zsolt Low said: "Kova has a big experience. He played a lot of big games in his career. He's important on the pitch and outside it. He brought everything today.
"He never stopped running, stopped fighting and always tried to find the solution for his team-mates. We're very happy to have Kova in this group. He's a big leader."
After making his loan permanent in a £40 million deal, Kovacic earned Chelsea's player of the season award in 2019/20, but has truly elevated his game this season.
The 27-year-old has recorded two goals and five assists in 16 Premier League appearances, surpassing his contributions in any other season at Stamford Bridge. It was also impossible to ignore that his influence was missed when he was injured in the latter stage of 2021.
Kovacic has shown an all-round ability in midfield, been one of few players able to link play with Romelu Lukaku and drawn praise from Chelsea's development players who have trained with the first team.
Over the course of 2020/21, it was easy to consider Kante and Jorginho as two of the standout central midfielders in the world, and they were lauded as such by making the top five of the Ballon d'Or awards.
Their influence cannot be understated, with the Frenchman earning man of the match awards in the Champions League semi-final and final, while the change in momentum when Jorginho was replaced against Al-Hilal is telling of the contribution he manages in every match.
However, Kovacic has earned his place to be thought of on the same pantheon as his teammates so far this season, and it is timely that he has.
The duo both see their contracts set to expire in less than 18 months, and while tentative talks are believed to have started for both to extend their deals, negotiations are not guaranteed to be easy as both approach their 31st birthday in 2022.
There is a great deal of quality to work with, but the Blues rarely offer deals longer than a year to those over 30 and Chelsea have already seen the difficulty that can present itself with short time on contracts with the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Kovacic is younger, has a longer deal and offers the basis for any midfield Thomas Tuchel may hope to set up in the next couple of years. Having some stability is key to any kind of transition, and with strong links to both Declan Rice and Aurelian Tchouameni ahead of the summer, Chelsea may be beginning to enter that process.
The 27-year-old former Real Madrid star held the fort at the start of the season as Jorginho dealt with his summer workload and Kante recovered from injury. Regardless of the outcomes of his teammates' deals, he must continue to do the same.
Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour could be welcomed back into Tuchel's fold in the summer, and if Chelsea are to seal one of the major transfers mentioned above, it seems unlikely Jorginho and Kante can have long term futures with the club.
In that case, a sale would not be unthinkable in the coming summer to extract some value before a contract expires.
The alternative is belief that the duo's talents can lead Chelsea's midfield for some time to come.
Regardless, Kovacic will be key to either indoctrinating new players into the system, or ensuring he can complete Chelsea's extensive fixture schedules, while the ageing Jorginho and Kante are managed more carefully.
Signing Kovacic on a permanent deal was crucial in 2019, as Chelsea dealt with the impact of their transfer ban despite not offering an irrepressible first year on loan.
The Blues may now be even more thankful they made the decision back then.
