As Fabian Schar prepares to play in his third World Cup, the Switzerland international may well be at the very peak of his powers. With that in mind, it is remarkable to think that the 30-year-old could not even get on the pitch for Newcastle United little more than a year ago.
In fact, Schar went nine games without featuring for the club under Steve Bruce and interim boss Graeme Jones before Eddie Howe's arrival last November. You can see why the defender was delighted to see the head coach come in.
Howe, after all, had previously tried to sign Schar for Bournemouth when the Cherries were in the Championship. Although that did not bring any guarantees, Schar, finally, had the confidence and trust of his manager, who did not want him to change. Instead, in their very first meeting at Benton, Howe simply told Schar to play his game.
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Schar may have missed Howe's first week-and-a-half at the club because he was away with Switzerland at the time but, tellingly, the centre-back was the only international who started Howe's first game against Brentford last November. Although a lot has changed at Newcastle since then, Schar has remained one of the first names on the team sheet.
In fact, despite some major surgery elsewhere, Schar is the sole survivor from the Ashley era still standing at the back and the 30-year-old has played his part in Newcastle having the best defence in the Premier League this season. No other Newcastle player has made more clearances (62) and interceptions (20) while only Joelinton, a midfielder, has made more blocks than Schar (23).
With better players around him, and the trust of his manager, Schar's quality has told and, remarkably, the Switzerland international has started 88% of the Magpies' league games under Howe. No wonder Schar earned a new two-year contract last April.
Schar has since gone on to prove the ideal partner for new arrival Sven Botman - the pair have formed a balanced partnership as a right footer and left footer respectively - and the composed defender has been among those to benefit from Newcastle playing more on the front foot this season. Schar, as a result, has had more of the ball - only the influential Kieran Trippier has had more touches - and the 30-year-old's passing range means he can switch the play at ease or play a ball over the top for Callum Wilson.
That was an aspect of Schar's game that always stood out to former team-mate Federico Fernandez, who spent four years with his one-time defensive partner at Newcastle.
"Fabian had the quality and ability to hit these long passes from the back," he told ChronicleLive. "He really improved in defence in the last couple of years. He's become a more complete player.
"He also has the confidence to step up with a couple of amazing goals from outside the box. He's really improved since the first day he arrived. He's in a good moment now with a manager that likes his style of football. You can see he's enjoying it."
Schar, like Fernandez, joined Newcastle in the summer of 2018 and, even then, the £3m the Magpies paid Deportivo for his services felt like a bargain after the black-and-whites triggered the centre-back's relegation release clause. It has also ended up proving a riposte, of sorts, to those critics who claim Newcastle's rise to third in the table is solely down to large-scale investment.
Yes, Newcastle have spent around £210m in 2022, but there are no guarantees with spending big and many clubs have previously wasted similar sums. You only have to look at Chelsea's £278m outlay last summer to realise that.
Jurgen Klopp may have hissed that there are three clubs in world football who can 'do what they want financially' - sarcastically congratulating Newcastle on having 'no ceiling' in the process - but the Liverpool boss' comments ignored the improvements inherited players like Schar have made under Howe. In fact, of the dozen players who have featured the most this season, exactly half are individuals who were already at the club when Howe was appointed: Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy, Miguel Almiron, Joelinton and, of course, Schar.
These players have long proved their worth and former team-mate Mo Diame knows just how hard Schar, in particular, has had to work to do that.
"It was difficult at the beginning when Fabian arrived," Diame told ChronicleLive. "He had to make the switch between La Liga and the Premier League because of the physical battles he had every second.
"In the Premier League, you have to fight for every ball and maybe he was more composed in the Spanish league. Now he has adapted very well and you can see he's a proper Premier League player and even scoring nice goals. He's in a good moment and I'm happy for him."
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