When a new manager arrives at a club or national team, there is often an unexpected beneficiary from the fringes. A previously disregarded player catches the eye of the new man in charge and changes the established thinking. For Chelsea under Antonio Conte, that player appears to be Victor Moses.
The Nigeria international, who first came to prominence as a youngster at Crystal Palace, has been on Chelsea's books since the summer of 2012, when the club were the reigning European champions. Plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since then, and several players have come and gone in the interim. Yet it is only now that Moses is beginning to make his mark.
Part of the reason is that he had become a victim of Chelsea's penchant for hoarding reasonably priced talent with a view to either first-team integration or selling for a substantial profit to help create a healthy balance sheet. The rights and wrongs of that policy, and whether it is actually bolstering Chelsea's chances of on-field success, are debatable -- see Kevin De Bruyne's dominant performances for Manchester City -- though in Moses' case it might be about to bear fruit.
After signing from Wigan for £9 million in 2012, Moses enjoyed a decent first season at the club. He made 44 appearances and scored a couple important goals, including a last-minute winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough to convince Jose Mourinho upon his return to the club in 2013. His peripatetic existence has seen him endure loan spells at Liverpool, Stoke and West Ham, showing flashes of quality at each club without really excelling anywhere. Despite his returning to his parent club every summer and almost always impressing in preseason, it never seemed to make a difference, as yet another temporary departure would be organised for him.
This summer again saw Moses shine in friendly matches for the Blues, though rather than being a prelude for another season-long jaunt to a new destination, Conte retained his services and is now using him as a wing-back in his 3-4-3 formation. The change in system has opened up for him at just the right time.
With star names such as Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro occupying the more prominent, wide attacking positions, there seemed to be no obvious way for him to find a regular spot in the starting lineup. The switch in position has so far proved to be a revelation, with Moses throwing himself into the role with relish.
While his attacking prowess is well-known and is indeed what earned him the move to Stamford Bridge in the first place, the most startling aspect is how he has taken to the defensive side of the game. Some attacking players, when asked to fill in at the back, can expend plenty of energy and enthusiasm for the cause without having a clue as to what they are supposed to be doing. Moses, though not quite impersonating the great Ashley Cole, has illustrated that he has a footballing brain that extends beyond his usual attacking remit.
In the two games he has started at wing-back (the 2-0 win at Hull and Saturday's 3-0 stroll against Leicester), Moses has barely found himself caught out of position, which is a testament to his ability to adapt to a new role. Another issue for attacking players positioned in defence is timing challenges correctly and knowing when to press the opponent or sit back. To date, Moses has displayed admirable intelligence in that respect and seems to have been watching Cesar Azpilicueta's knack of anticipating danger and squeezing up on the attacker to suffocate a threat.
After just two appearances as right wing-back, Moses has made himself the first choice in that position. His apparent lack of ego has allowed him to prosper, and he has shown great patience in waiting for his chance to prove himself at the club. In September 2015, Moses signed a new four-year contract at Chelsea, which at the time seemed a bizarre move by both the player and the club, considering he hadn't played a Premier League game for the Blues in more than two years. Whatever the motivations behind each party's decision, it is now starting to pay off.
Of course, there will be some much bigger hurdles ahead for Moses to overcome if he is to truly reinvent himself as a genuine wing-back, rather than simply being a stop-gap, starting with Sunday's visit of Manchester United. Until now, he has had to deal with the limited threat posed by Hull's Adama Diomande and Leicester's Marc Albrighton on his flank. This weekend, he could be faced with any of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Memphis Depay, all of whom would pose far more difficult questions of his defensive technique.
By Sunday night, it will become clearer just how much life there is in Moses' unexpected renaissance.