The sense of anticipation was palpable. The Chelsea support had bellowed their approval before kick-off when his name was called out and they did so again, only louder, on 59 minutes when he prepared to make his professional debut as a substitute. Even Nicolas Anelka, the player to give way, smiled broadly. It was an afternoon of firsts.
Gaël Kakuta has battled intense frustration since September, when Fifa ruled that Chelsea had illegally induced him to sever his ties with Lens in 2007 and, together with punishing the London club with a transfer embargo, it banned the 18-year-old for four months. The sentence was suspended earlier in the month, pending Chelsea's appeal, and on Saturday, at long last, Kakuta could find release in doing what he has always loved best.
If the feeling of liberation was striking, then so too was the forward's nervelessness. Not for him the safe early touches and simple lay-offs. Within two minutes he had accepted a pass inside the penalty area and, with a quicksilver feint, had tricked around the Wolves defender Richard Stearman to shoot into the side-netting. Stearman had to unravel himself and he might have smiled ruefully at a post-match comment by the Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi. "We try to kick Gaël in training," Mikel said. "That's the only way to stop him."
When Wayne Rooney first appeared for Everton, his performances were marked by the desire to take opponents on and try things; Kakuta showed the same glorious lack of inhibition. Playing as a support striker, there was a polish about his touches, an easiness to him in possession and he almost added further gloss to the scoreline with a shot that dipped narrowly wide. Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, has described Kakuta as the most talented teenager he has seen and the reason why the player will be hyped more than most prodigies is because he has a style to excite. Everyone loves a player who can fire the imagination. Ancelotti will preach caution. Kakuta is raw and, physically, he is not yet ready to become a Premier League starter. But with his first flickers for the first team the skinny little kid from northern France has begun to show what all the fuss is about.
"In terms of skill I think he is the best player at the club," said Mikel. "The sort of things he does in training, they come naturally. You could see how relieved he was to come on, how free he was. He wants to show the fans what he's got and he did that." Mikel knows a thing or two about making an acrimonious transfer to Chelsea as a teenager. Indeed, his move from the Norwegian side Lyn, played out to a backdrop of alleged death threats, high-speed car chases, police intervention, kidnap allegations and forged contracts, made Kakuta's seem routine.
"I've spoken to Gaël because he knows what happened to me," said Mikel, who spent months on the sidelines while the arguments raged. "I tried to tell him to calm down and just continue to work hard in training. For me it took a bit of time but when I started playing it was such a relief and I think it's the same with Gaël.
"I felt a lot of pressure. When you're really young, a lot of people are getting into your head, people are trying to convince you … it was too much pressure. But I just had to shut everyone up, concentrate and see what happened in the end. That's what Gaël has to do."
Despite fashioning a handful of presentable chances, Wolves were beaten long before Kakuta's introduction and that of another Chelsea debutant, the Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic. Michael Essien scored twice in a match for Chelsea for the first time and he spent the second half threatening a hat-trick. Wolves were dismal at the back. "We look like at team that can get relegated," said the manager, Mick McCarthy. "There's a difference between that and just being in the relegation zone. Let's understand where we are."
For Chelsea a defining period of four away games beckons, including two in the Premier League at Arsenal and Manchester City. "If we beat Arsenal on Sunday, 11 points would be a massive gap," said Mikel. "Don't forget, last season we were 12 points [off the top] at some point and we couldn't do it. This period will really determine who is going to win."
