This wasn't the way Thomas Tuchel drew it up. After Chelsea had spent £350million in the last two summers, it wasn't supposed to be two players who couldn't find new clubs and another who couldn't find the net that bailed him out of his toughest week in west London.
But after two 1-0 defeats in a week saw Tuchel’s plan A hit the buffers, it was Chelsea’s unlikely lads who kept him on track.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley spent last season on loan at Fulham and Aston Villa respectively, and even Tuchel had admitted he didn’t see much future for them at Stamford Bridge.