If it hadn't already, the decision may already have been made and the shadow cast. The curtain is already part way to being pulled across the stage, the end is coming. Graham Potter only sat down during the final act and he's not witnessed the lead role at all - he won't be getting his money back though.
For Chelsea, the previously complex contract choices to be made over Jorginho and N'Golo Kante look a lot simpler, they just have months now to plan, potentially for life without two of their midfield stalwarts. The longer this season goes on, the further Chelsea get from Kante's last appearance and the closer they come to his final one.
What will Didier Deschamps be thinking? He had around 15 games to hope Kante could keep himself fresh for the World Cup, a last hurrah perhaps, and the Frenchman hasn't returned since early August.
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Kante has played less than two matches for Chelsea this season. He's missed 11 of the last 15 matches stretching back to last season. He missed 12 last term in the league alone, he hasn't played a minute of Champions League football this season.
The entire discourse around Kante is centred on his ability to produce 20 big displays a season, but when Potter and Thomas Tuchel needed his energy in Europe or to help them solve issues, he wasn't there. It's a sad state of affairs, but it's hard to see efficient, business-minded owners seeing a way in-which offering Kante a new deal makes any sense.
His initial four-six week period out after suffering a hamstring injury against Tottenham is up and barring some training images, he isn't much closer to a return.
Last week Potter said that there had been another delay in recovery: "N'Golo, we're just waiting for his reaction from his training," he admitted. "It is certainly not ideal [his reaction] so we will have to wait and see the extent of it and go from there. It's not ideal and it is disappointing for him and for us."
There's just nine matches before the World Cup, Kante will be desperate to gain some form of fitness, if not solely to be a player that his country can call upon in the latter stages of the tournament, but the bigger picture is that rushing him back for Chelsea before then is almost pointless.
Potter is probably better off working with what he has - especially considering the impressive form of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, promise shown by Carney Chukwuemeka and use of Conor Gallagher in his preferred position.
Even if Kante was fit, reports from France suggest that his place at Qatar 2022 could be going down to the wire as well. L'Equipe speculate that he could yet be out for several more weeks. There's less than four until Deschamps hands in his final squad list for the competition.
It would be a massive blow for France and shortens the list of games Potter has to form any decision on Kante, if the choice is even there anymore. If the report is true, then Kante may only have two matches left that he could possibly play in before the tournament, and that's if Chelsea see it as worth while risking him given that a four-week break may be in order should he not be selected for his country.
If that's the case, then he has two matches left of 2022, after that he can discuss a free transfer for the end of his contract in summer 2023.
It's not unfeasible that Kante has played his last game before the World Cup and maybe even of the year. If he has, there's a chance he's played his last game as a Chelsea player before agreeing a future move elsewhere. This all coming before Potter has got a real glimpse of the player that has elevated the Blues to world class levels.
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