Re-born Malouda goes with the Flo

THREE months ago, if a journalist had dared to question Florent Malouda on his choice of hairstyle, the chances are that the interview would have been terminated with an icy stare and curled lip.

The Chelsea winger cut the most miserable of figures towards the end of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s ill-fated tenure: bereft of confidence, an object of fun amongst a section of the club’s supporters and apparently destined to be tossed aside at the end of the season.

Guus Hiddink, too, was suspicious of his qualities on succeeding the Brazilian but, ever since scoring the decisive second goal at Newcastle four weeks ago, Malouda has proved indispensable. He has started every game in the interim and, on Saturday, delivered the kind of performance which makes the £13.5m (€15.1m) Chelsea paid Lyon for his services in July 2007 look a steal, not a swindle.