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Five clubs are ready to pounce if N'Golo Kante leaves Chelsea as a free agent next summer, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.
The France international is in the final 12 months of his contract and turned down a verbal offer from owner Todd Boehly in August. The club offered him a two-year contract with an option to extend for another season.
However, the former Leicester City star turned down the approach and as of now, is set to leave the club as a free agent in the summer of 2023.
Age seems to have caught up with the 31-year-old as he has struggled with injury issues in the past year or so.
Thomas Tuchel, before being sacked by Chelsea earlier this month, pointed to Kante's injury problems as a factor behind the club's dilemma over handing him a new contract.
Kante missed 16 games for the Blues last season due to multiple fitness issues and has missed six out of a possible eight matches this season due to muscular problems. This is a far cry from his first two seasons in England, whereby he missed just one game due to injury.
Two clubs in England and one each in Spain, France, and Germany are reportedly ready to sign Kante if he fails to renew his deal at Stamford Bridge. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner with France has registered 13 goals and 15 assists in 262 club games since joining Chelsea six years ago.
Chelsea may have already prepared for life without N'Golo Kante
Chelsea were one of the most active Premier League teams in the summer transfer window. They signed several midfielders, hinting at the fact that the club wanted a safety net in case of Kante's temporary or permanent unavailability in the future.
18-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka and 19-year-old Cesare Casadei arrived at SW6 from Aston Villa and Inter Milan respectively. The former is more suited to playing as a central midfielder while the latter is an attacking midfielder.
Conor Gallagher was also retained this summer after returning from his loan spell at Crystal Palace. On deadline day, Chelsea signed defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria on a loan transfer from Juventus.
Hence, the Blues seem to be preparing for life without Kante - be it due to his potential injury problems this season or his departure next year. Apart from the incomings, three unwanted midfielders were sold by the west London outfit this summer.
Ross Barkley and Danny Drinkwater were released as free agents after the expiry of their contracts, while Billy Gilmour was sold to Southampton.
