They are 50 games filled with success for one of the major players in last season’s title-winning side, and it is testament to his quality, his energy and his powers of recovery that he is selected so regularly by Antonio Conte. Kante has a 74 per cent win-rate in a Chelsea shirt.

‘It is good,’ he tells the official Chelsea website. It did not need pointing out to him he had reached an appearance milestone. He knew. ‘It is a very proud moment for me to have made 50 appearances for Chelsea, and I hope for many more.

‘Last season we had many games, we went far in the FA Cup and that is why in just one season and two months I have been able to play 50 games for Chelsea.’

The prospect of racking up the game count even more rapidly is there this season with Champions League football added to the calendar, and Kante’s ability to recover and run forever will be crucial today with such little time between the big game in Madrid and the equally huge match against Manchester City today.

The Champions League challenge is a fresh one for the France international and it has been so far, so good.

‘It is a new competition for me and I am happy to do it with Chelsea, and we did a good game on Wednesday at Atletico Madrid,’ he says before adding, ‘I hope we can go far in the competition.

‘It is a tactical game in the Champions League, and my position changed a little bit in Madrid. I had to get a bit more forward, to try to press the opponent and give them some difficulties. It was the tactic of the game.’

As impressive and historic as the 2-1 victory on Wednesday was, it does not make it into Kante’s favourite three games from his 50. For those he selects his first appearance for Chelsea – the home win over West Ham on the opening day of last season, plus unsurprisingly the night we won the league at West Brom. Choice number three is the afternoon the trophy was lifted and celebrated at Stamford Bridge having beaten Sunderland on the last day back in May.

Back to this season and as well as the addition of the Champions League, there is a burgeoning partnership with Tiemoue Bakayoko to appreciate, something that has recently been done in song by the fans to an 1970s Earth, Wind and Fire tune.

‘I have heard it sung a little bit but not a lot yet,’ says Kante. ‘It is good song.’

And one he is bound to hear a lot more, with his next 50 appearances all set to clock up at a very fast rate indeed.