No one last season fulfilled the role of 'squad player' more than Juliano Belletti who played right-back, left-back and several positions in midfield during the nine months.
He earned an English league winners' medal to add to his Spanish titles as reward for making 11 Premier League appearances, four of them starts, and he was on the pitch during the final two games that sealed the Double, although his FA Cup Final will be remembered for conceding an ultimately not-damaging penalty.
A troublesome Achilles delayed Belletti's start to the league campaign but he returned as a second-half substitute for Jose Bosingwa in late August when a win against Burnley was already in the bag.
His first three appearances were all as a sub, including stints as a holding and a right-sided midfielder, before his first start, on the right of a midfield diamond when neighbours QPR came calling in the Carling Cup.
With none of the usual free-kick takers on the pitch that night, it fell to Belletti to give the ball a real Brazilian-style thump from 35 yards, but the shot was saved. Unfortunately in 2009/10, Chelsea fans weren't treated to one of the long-range goals he had smashed in during his previous two Chelsea years.
In that September game he did embark on a tremendous 50-yard run that nearly ended in a QPR own goal.
Belletti was called upon again the next match when John Mikel Obi was forced off at half-time at Wigan but although the Nigerian was ruled out for six weeks, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack were preferred by Carlo Ancelotti to fill the gap.
There were however four starts for Belletti at right-back over the period with Jose Boswinga's season over, Paulo Ferreira not in the Champions League squad and Branislav Ivanovic required in central defence at times.
One of those matches was a club-record-breaking 12th straight home victory, when Wolves were beaten 4-0.
The early, icy weeks of 2010 should have been Belletti's prolonged moment in the Chelsea spotlight due to African internationals taking others away.
'I spoke with Carlo after pre-season and said I can help the team, not just as a right-back but also in midfield in the absence of Mikel and Essien, and at this moment in January the team needs me,' he told the Official Chelsea Website in January.
The 33-year-old was needed to protect the back four but after three games, including a 7-2 win over Sunderland in which he had a hand in two goals, he suffered an injured knee early on at Preston in the FA Cup and was in recovery for a month.
He returned just in time to add decoy to the list of jobs taken on during the campaign, Ancelotti alluding to using him as an emergency left-back against Inter in the San Siro before selecting Florent Malouda there instead.
During his time in English football, conceding fouls in potentially dangerous positions had been a problem for Belletti, and it was with such actions that his Chelsea career unfortunately came to an end.
He was out-paced by Craig Bellamy 16 minutes after coming in the 4-2 home defeat by Man City, conceding a penalty and receiving a red card.
There was half an hour's action the glorious day when the League was won - his final appearance at the Bridge, but after replacing injured Michael Ballack in the FA Cup Final, it took seven minutes of play before a foul in the area on Aruna Dindane led to another penalty.
Happily Petr Cech did get something on the ball when the Portsmouth spot-kick was struck, clearing the way for the collection of a second major medal in a week as the farewell moment for a good servant who leaves at the end of his contract.
