What’s the story
Arsene Wenger admitted today that Arsenal were keen on getting N’Golo Kante from Leicester last summer but missed out after the Frenchman decided to move towards the Blue part of London. In a press conference ahead of the London Derby, the Arsenal manager heaped praise on his compatriot and hailed his world class quality.
“Yes. When he in France, when he was at Leicester. Then again, I cannot explain everything but it's quite obvious when you look where he’s gone," Wenger added.
“I do not want to talk about that, transfers are transfers - you cannot explain absolutely everything. I believe Kante has had a huge impact," Wenger said. “It’s no coincidence Chelsea are where they are and Leicester did what they did last season."
In case you didn’t know...
Leicester City’s fairytale last season was down to a lot of factors but a prominent one was the presence of N’Golo Kante in their midfield who absolutely bossed it last season. The Frenchman is a tireless worker and has displayed his brilliant work ethic plenty of times.
The player was at the heart of the Leicester midfield and was a major reason for their defensive solidity last season. Kante's superb tackling and positioning are some of his biggest qualities which have allowed him to play at the top level with such efficiency.
His absence has left Leicester City reeling and the Foxes are really struggling without their midfield lynchpin. The defensive powerhouse, on the other hand, has given Chelsea a massive boost and the Blues have enjoyed a great campaign this season.
The heart of the matter
The Arsenal manager revealed that he had tried to sign Kante twice in the past, once when he was at Leicester and the other when the player was in France. Wenger refused to let out any further details and was happy to end the talk on that note.
Kante’s qualities were highlighted just the other day against Liverpool, against whom he made an astonishing 14 tackles. The player has slotted wonderfully in Conte’s 3-4-3 system and has played a crucial role in their season till now.
What next?
Although Wenger missed out on Kante, he signed a similar player in Granit Xhaka. The Swiss international has all the necessary qualities but his disciplinary issues may hurt Arsenal continuously. This is not the first time that Arsene Wenger has missed out on a world class player and the Frenchman has often revealed the reasons for the same, except this particular time.
Sportskeeda’s take
A probable reason why Arsene failed to land Kante at Arsenal could be the fact that Arsenal as a club just could not compete with Chelsea on the wage front. Arsenal have constantly missed out on potential and established stars due to this problem and it may not be a big surprise if this was the reason yet again.
Wenger certainly cannot do much about this but if Arsenal want to compete at the top level, they may well have to give in to high wage demands and break their well-established wage structure.
