The Portuguese scored his first goal for the club in the 4-2 win over Gent on Thursday, crowning a promising start to life in blue since his summer arrival from Basel. Veiga has featured in eight of our ten fixtures so far in 2024/25 and recently made his full Premier League debut in the win at Bournemouth. He also earned his maiden senior call-up at international level.

It is clear Veiga is finding his feet. Part of his smooth assimilation to life in SW6, he says, has been the welcoming collection of staff and team-mates he has discovered and got to know in the past couple of months.

‘We have a really good group with great individuals and good values,’ Veiga said.

‘We really like each other and are building a family, you could say. Everyone has integrated really well and the group is really together.

‘There aren’t little groups within the squad like on other teams I’ve been on, but that happens and is normal. It’s special that here in Chelsea now, we have a big group, a big family, and everyone feels together.’

Maresca has been unafraid to rotate his players from game to game, making the most of the abundance of riches at his disposal.

Veiga, who has earned most of his minutes in the cup competitions, believes Chelsea’s style of play is recognisable irrespective of who is on the pitch at any given time. It is why we are winning on multiple fronts.

‘That’s what the manager wants, that we can swap a player but the ideas and the timings are there,’ he noted.

‘It’s independent of the player that’s in each position. The manager wants us to be in the right place at the right time. So that’s what we try to do, to follow what he says.

‘We just have to put our quality in and enjoy the game.’