Premier League: The best bargain buys in the last decade

#1 N’Golo Kante (Caen to Leicester City, 2015 – £5.6m)

Kante led Leicester City to the title

The hard-tackling midfielder slipped under the radar of the big clubs and landed at the King Power Stadium in 2015. Kante’s arrival wasn’t met with much optimism. However, just a year on, the whole world knew that in Kante, Leicester had the best defensive midfielder on the planet.

Kante boasts of an extremely rare skill-set. He prides himself on breaking up the play and being in the right place at the right time. Additionally, the Frenchman is an efficient user of the ball and rarely gives the ball away. Thus, it is no surprise that he has quickly established himself as one of the premier midfielders on the planet.

Leicester City’s run to the title in 2015-16 was as ludicrous a fairy tale as known by mankind. The way the effervescent Foxes outwitted one and all on their way to the title was a sight to behold. While Mahrez and Vardy grabbed all the headlines with their goal-scoring exploits, Kante was the most essential component in their machine.

Players like Kante don’t come around very often. Some years ago, a certain Claude Makelele came about and re-defined the defensive midfielder role. If Kante keeps performing like he has been doing, don’t be surprised if he revolutionises the way a defensive midfielder plays by the time he hangs up his boots.

To think that he cost less than 6 million is absolutely ridiculous. Hence, without a shadow of a doubt, the top spot on our list goes to N’Golo Kante.