Chelsea cruised to a routine 4-0 home win over PAOK on Thursday night in the Europa League and central midfielder Cesc Fabregas turned out to be one of the stars to stake a claim for more game-time.
Maurizio Sarri made 10 changes for the European fixture from the team that lost to Tottenham in the Premier League and it was a chance for some fringe players to try catch the eye.
Fabregas has been more on the fringes of the first team this campaign so far and is yet to start a league fixture.
The 31-year-old has won two league titles in England during his time at Stamford Bridge, but summer signing Jorginho has taken his place in the starting XI this campaign.
Fabregas reminded everyone he is still a top-class operator by picking up two assists against PAOK and showing off a brilliant range of passing from the centre of the park.
The Spaniard couldn’t have done much more to put his name in the hat for more league opportunities and there are a number of supporters desperate for him to be reintegrated to the main XI.
Sarri is now left with a conundrum over Fabregas, who Chelsea signed for £30million (Daily Mail) from Barcelona in 2014.
Chelsea shouldn’t axe Jorginho from the starting XI immediately, as he’s been pivotal to what is still a good start to the season and is excelling in the deep-lying playmaker role.
Fabregas may naturally get more chances during a hectic fixture list in December and the Blues are spoiled to have such quality on the bench, which most teams in the division could only dream of.
Meanwhile, slotting the pass master into a role either side of Jorginho is another option and Chelsea certainly look extremely creative when the assist king is on the pitch.
Sarri will certainly believe Fabregas has a key role to play across all competitions over the course of an entire season and it will be intriguing to see if his cup form will eventually help him force into the league team.