The defender recently moved past Dennis Wise up to seventh in the list of our highest all-time appearance-makers and will be targeting the Club World Cup trophy in February to complete the set of having won everything on offer as a Chelsea player.

Azpilicueta is one of a handful of Blues defenders whose future is the subject of speculation, however Tuchel does not feel there is a need to panic about the situation.

‘I don’t see any problem here,’ said the boss. ‘The situation between Azpi, me and the club is very clear. He is our captain. He has all possibilities to stay here as long as possible and become the legend he already is. He is a fantastic captain and a fantastic player.’

Tuchel also offered an explanation as to why the 32-year-old had featured a little less so far this season. Between late October and early this month, Azpilicueta started just two of 10 Chelsea matches, although he is currently on a run of three successive starts for the Blues.

‘If there are some weeks where he does not play so much, like in the last weeks, there are some reasons,’ claimed Tuchel. ‘First of all, he was injured in his shoulder. Second of all, the team played very strong in his positions with Trevoh [Chalobah] and Andreas [Christensen], and at wing-back with Reecey [James].

‘That’s how it is. If there is any player who knows it is like this, it’s Azpi. He is very calm. He has everything in his own hands. I see no signs we should be worried about it.’

Another Spaniard in the squad who has found game time difficult to come by of late is Saul. The midfielder has been deployed in defence, midfield and attack in recent games, partly due to the team running out of options due to injury and Covid-19, though Tuchel admits that tinkering has made adapting to English football even tougher for the on-loan Atletico Madrid man.

‘Does Saul feel like the same guy as at Atletico, with the same role, the same responsibility?’ pondered the Chelsea head coach. ‘No, not yet.

‘Does he struggle? Yes, he struggles. Is he the first player to struggle in the Premier League? No, and he will not be the last.

‘We will protect our players and I will protect my players always. He played against Everton as a number 6, a number 9 and as a wing-back. Is that fair to him? Also no; so put it in context and then maybe you will have a more moderate picture and a more moderate reaction.

‘I hope Saul does not read it [social media] and why should he. He knows what we think about him and he knows what he has to do to improve. He is doing everything. We are trying to find the best version of him and we will not stop pushing.’