Nigeria’s Victor Moses has successfully been reinvented by Chelsea’s Antonio Conte

Greg Lea writes Victor Moses' unexpected resurgence at Chelsea has been facilitated by Antonio Conte's inventiveness with the wing-back.

Victor Moses of Chelsea goes to play the ball against West Bromwich Albion last weekend. Clive Rose / Getty Images / December 11, 2016

There have been no major surprises in terms of clubs significantly outperforming expectations in the first half of the 2016/17 campaign, but Victor Moses is the undisputed winner of the equivalent award for Premier League players.

The Nigeria international probably expected to depart Stamford Bridge in the summer, having failed to make a single top-flight appearance for Chelsea since May 2013.

Loans at Stoke City, Liverpool and West Ham United brought mixed success, but most would have agreed that Moses had not done enough in temporary spells elsewhere to earn a place in Antonio Conte’s plans.

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The former Juventus manager insisted on making up his own mind, however, and subsequent events would suggest he liked what he saw. Moses impressed his new boss with his work ethic and willingness to learn, which led to a place on the substitutes’ bench for the campaign curtain-raiser against West Ham.

Nevertheless, there still did not appear to be a role for Moses in Conte’s 4-1-4-1 formation, with the winger seemingly considered fourth choice in the fight for the two available attacking spots on the flanks.

All of that changed when Chelsea switched to a 3-4-3 setup midway through September’s 3-0 loss to Arsenal. A clean sheet in the second half of that contest convinced Conte to stick with the new configuration for the following week’s trip to Hull City, and Moses has kept his place at right wing-back ever since.

The ex-Crystal Palace man – he will face his former employers when Chelsea travel across London to Selhurst Park on Saturday – has thrived, producing a number of man-of-the-match displays during his team’s rise to the summit of the standings.

Just when his career at Stamford Bridge appeared to be over, Moses has established himself as a key figure in Chelsea’s title tilt.

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