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What’s the story?
Whilst the chase for Chelsea’s superstar duo of Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard continues in right earnest, French website Le10 reports that Florentino Perez and Zinedine Zidane are also interested in the man who is set to win two Premier League medals in a row – N’Golo Kante. $63 million, or 51 million GBP, would be enough for Chelsea to get convinced so that they themselves may comply with Financial Fair Play regulations. This is considerably less than the asking price for Eden Hazard.
In case you don’t know
N’Golo has been so good over the past two seasons, his first two seasons in the Premier League, that a slew of #Kantefacts have thrown up across the net webs. Sample this: 70% of Earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by N’Golo Kante.
These two are my favourites:
and,
The heart of the matter
Forget the humour and the trolling, N’Golo Kante was the cornerstone upon which Leicester City mounted their miraculous title campaign and upon which Antonio Conte has built that unstoppable juggernaut that is today’s Chelsea.
This is what Gary Cahill, club captain had to say about his midfield dynamo
‘For me and the rest of the defence it’s great to have him protecting us like he does. He’s come here and adapted straight away and improved even more.’
Check out these stats from the Premier League’s official website
| Tackles | 280 |
| Tackle Success% | 70% |
| Blocked Shots | 13 |
| Interceptions | 221 |
| Clearances | 96 |
| Headed clearances | 40 |
| Recoveries | 561 |
| Duels Won | 445 |
| Successful 50/50s | 78 |
| Aerial Battles Won | 57 |
| Errors Leading to Goal | 0 |
His presence in midfield allow(ed) both sides to play two men in midfield – so incredible is his work-rate and Makelele-esque ability to not just cover the ground but also read the game like an open book. He is also that rare thing that Makelele was, and very few recognized, a defensive playmaker who destroys attacks whilst simultaneously starting attacks of their own.
Real Madrid’s interest in him is not surprising considering the defensive frailty of their side, and Kante's presence would free up their attacks in a manner that they would revel in.
Video
Author’s Take
Chelsea may just be willing to part with Kante if they can keep Madrid’ s hands off of Hazard. While Real Madrid already have their Kante-lite in the form of underrated Brazilian Carlos Casemiro (who, as the ever excellent Sunny Sagar has already pointed out, is more important than even Ronaldo is to Madrid) but in my opinion Kante would be an upgrade and free up Toni Kroos and Luka Modric around him even more.
