James only turned 21 in December but you wouldn’t know it such was the commanding nature of his performance against Manchester City. No player on the pitch won more tackles or made more clearances, while the right wing-back also recorded Chelsea-high stats for touches and dribbles. No wonder he received widespread acclaim afterwards.

As well as James, Ben Chilwell, Andreas Christensen, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are all aged 25 or under of those who featured for the Blues on Saturday. It bodes well for the years ahead.

‘There’s many young players in this team, we’ve won the Champions League now and we’re only going to grow and get stronger as a team,’ said Reece.

‘Next season we have to go for many more trophies and see what happens.’

Of his own impressive showing, James remained modest and preferred to pin our triumph on the group, summing up his unassuming nature and commitment to the greater cause.

‘Obviously Man City are a very good side. It’s difficult to say we outplayed them but we scored and they didn’t. In football the decisive moments count and only one goal won us the game.

‘It was a collective team effort; it wasn’t any one player. We had to fight together as a team. As soon as we scored one goal we knew that they were going to come because they needed to score.

‘I always try my best. When we come up against very good players we need to remain focused and give everything. I had help from the rest of my team as well and I’m very thankful we won.’