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What’s the story?
Real Madrid, after splashing huge amounts of cash this summer, are still not done as they look to bring N'Golo Kanté to the Santiago Bernabeu next summer.
According to Liam Twomey, Los Blancos have placed the 28-year-old on their shortlist and will pursue him in the next summer transfer window.
In case you didn’t know…
The 28-year-old midfielder signed a contract extension with Chelsea less than a year ago in November 2018 but that does not deter Real Madrid's ambitions. Kante's contract runs down till 2023 and with four years left on his contract, the Londoners are in a pole position this time.
The heart of the matter..
After signing Thibaut Courtois in 2018 and Eden Hazard this summer, Real Madrid could continue to haunt Chelsea with their pursuit of Kante next summer. If reports coming out of England are to believed, Zinedine Zidane has demanded the signing of the Frenchman and the club are therefore expected to make a bid in the summer of 2020.
The Spanish giants have reignited their interest in the Chelsea star ever since Zinedine Zidane was re-appointed. Although the club opted to chase Paul Pogba this summer, it is understood Real will come in for Kante next summer as talks with Manchester United collapsed.
Despite the Frenchman being 28-years of age, he will not come for cheap as Florentino Perez will have to shell out a minimum amount of €100m which is his current market value as estimated by Transfermarkt.
Real Madrid have been raiding Stamford Bridge season after season after signing Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois but this time the ball is in Chelsea's court. Kante has four years still left on his contract unlike the Belgians who had one year each left before making a switch.
What's next?
Relations between Chelsea and Real Madrid have been good as they have seen several big names swap clubs which include the likes of Hazard, Courtois, Claude Makelele, Arjen Robben, Michael Essien, Mateo Kovacic and many more and if the Londoners are open to selling Kante, they would rather sell to the Spanish giants.
