Chelsea are reported to have stepped up their pursuit of Leicester midfielder N’Golo Kante. The London club has been determined to sign a tenacious midfielder and were frustrated in their pursuit of Roma’s Belgian star Radja Nainggolan but have now zoomed in on another high calibre target.
According to reports in France, Chelsea have agreed a £29 million fee with the Premier League Champions Leicester, and it is now up to Kante to decide whether to accept Chelsea’s offer or take up the £100,000-a-week deal that Leicester have offered him to stay. With the kind of interest the France International has generated across European Clubs and even from China, Kante could even wait for other clubs to come in with more offers.
Chelsea, however, are optimistic of sealing Kante’s signature soon and are keen to have him on board before they fly to the United States for their pre-season tour.
Their attempts to sign him are being complicated by interest from Chinese club Shanghai SIPG who will surely be willing to offer the Frenchman massive wages, while even Leicester have shown a determination to keep their best players after their Premier League triumph and will persuade the player to stay.
Antonio Conte. Chelsea’s new Italian manager is particularly insistent on snapping up Kante as soon as possible, as he considers a midfielder with his characteristics to be of absolute priority for his setup.
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Kante would add plenty of bite to the Chelsea midfield, as Nemanja Matic had an underwhelming season last year and has an unclear future at the moment in any case. The former Caen player averaged 4.7 tackles and 4.2 interceptions per game in the league last year, topping the charts for both in the league. Those are the reasons he’s coveted by the biggest clubs across Europe. with Champions League winners Real Madrid also believed to be pondering an approach for him.
Kante played in Euro 2016 as well, making an impression in the tournament even though he missed the quarterfinal through suspension and subsequently lost his place in the team. Whether his presence in the France midfield in the Euro 2016 final would have given them more control in the game, and also allowed Paul Pogba to venture forward is a question Didier Deschamps will always have unanswered.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will be hoping to add a crucial cog to the winning machine that Conte will seek to turn the London club into.
