Whether starting at right-back or left-back, Gusto has been tasked with inverting into the Chelsea midfield, adding weight of numbers and quality receiving the ball between the lines.

Aside from two games missed through injury, the Frenchman has started every league game for us this season. That is despite Maresca having a fully-fit Reece James to call upon again, and Marc Cucurella enjoying a sustained spell of good form. Gusto knows such competition comes with the territory of being a Chelsea player, and can only be beneficial for the Blues.

‘I try to do my best every day, the manager knows that,’ he said.

‘Reece and I have a great relationship between us. As you’ve seen in the last few games, we have both played. So it’s not like it’s either him or me [that starts]. We try to push ourselves, do our best and help the team as much as we can.

‘We have a lot of quality and it’s good for the team. We are playing Conference League in the week so it’s good to change and have two great teams. It’s good for Chelsea to have this type of quality.’

The Blues head into the international break – where Gusto will be representing the France Under-21 side – in third place in a very congested Premier League table.

‘To be honest, we didn’t start with this [position] on our mind,’ he acknowledged.

‘We have a new manager, a new process, so we just try to make that on the pitch. After that, we see what happens. We are in third place which is good, and we have to keep [going] to create something as a group.’