Hidden Norwich moment proves Tuchel's maligned £30m figure has bought into Chelsea blueprint

It is not of great surprise that Saul Niguez's recent upturn in form has completely gone under the radar. Why wouldn't it?

Given the seismic events that have engulfed Chelsea into chaos off the pitch, the confidence-boosting wins and calmly assured displays of the Spanish international are hardly near the top of supporters lists.

But the past three games have shown that Saul, whose career in west London started terribly, can still end with a feeling of positivity and that this loan has not been a complete waste of time, which it threatened to be before Christmas.

It was in the post-match media duties at Vicarage Road in December when Thomas Tuchel's damning assessment of the midfielder encapsulated a night that threatened to define Saul's season.

"I don't know where he goes from this performance, but he was on a yellow card, so we had two options," Tuchel said when explaining why he had opted to replace the 27-year-old at half-time.

What was worse for Saul, this was history repeating itself.

Tuchel was making the same call at Stamford Bridge against Aston Villa almost three months earlier on his debut. Saul looked completely lost, unable to cope with the pace of the game, and his sluggishness was pounced on.

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On both occasions, Chelsea's midfield was enhanced after he left proceedings. It was damning for