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Saudi Arabian football club Al Nassr are reportedly keen to sign Chelsea and France midfielder N'Golo Kante. According to Foot Mercato, Al Nassr is reportedly keeping close tabs on Kante's contract situation to bring the player on board as soon as possible.
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Kante, aged 31, has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, playing for Leicester City and Chelsea in the Premier League. He has won numerous accolades during his time at Chelsea, including the Premier League title, the UEFA Champions League trophy and the Europa League trophy. He has also been named in the 'Premier League Team of the Year' on three occasions.
However, persistent fitness issues have hampered the France international over the last couple of seasons. He missed 16 games in the 2021-22 season and will be out until February 2023 due to a hamstring injury this season. He also could not make France's squad for the recently concluded 2022 FIFA World Cup on account of injury.
That said, Kante remains a world-class midfield operator and will be out of contract at the end of the current season. He will be free to enter into a pre-contract with any club come January, with Barcelona also touted to be one of his suitors.
It remains to be seen whether Kante will make the move to Al Nassr, but the club's interest in the 31-year-old highlights their ambition to become one of the top clubs in Asia. They have also reportedly tabled a massive €200 million a season deal for Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom a meeting is scheduled for further discussion.
Chelsea interested in signing La Liga midfielder
Chelsea are reportedly interested in signing Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi to reinforce their midfield as per journalist Simon Phillips. The decision comes in the wake of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho being in the final year of their respective contracts.
Zubimendi is a product of Real Sociedad's academy and made his senior team debut in 2016. Since then, he has gone on to make 115 appearances across competitions, scoring and assisting four goals each. He was part of the Sociedad team that won the 2019 Copa del Rey.
This season, he has made 17 appearances across competitions, scoring once and assisting twice. The one-capped Spain international has a contract with Los Txuri-Urdin until 2027, meaning he will not come cheap. Transfermarkt currently values the 23-year-old at €40 million.
