N'Golo Kante is yet to return after picking up a hamstring injury against Watford (Getty Images)
A rather surprising bit of news has emerged with Manchester United enquiring about the signing of N’Golo Kante from Chelsea (source – Express). Chelsea are prepared to sanction a transfer for the £150,000-a-week midfielder to raise funds after a summer of heavy spending. Inter Milan were frontrunners to sign him but they pulled out eventually.
The 26-year-old French midfielder started his youth career at JS Suresnes in 1999 and moved to Boulogne in 2010. After two seasons with the youth team, he was promoted to the first-team. He went on to make a total of 39 appearances for them before leaving for SM Caen.
Despite making more than 81 appearances for Caen, Kante was still a relatively unknown quantity in European football. It was all about to change with his transfer to Leicester City in 2015. He went on to help the Foxes win the league title in his first season and that gave the world a glimpse of what N’Golo Kante was.
Chelsea came calling within one season and he moved to Stamford Bridge. Another league title followed in 2017. Kante had become one of the most coveted midfield destroyers in football within two years. So far, he has made 173 appearances for the Blues and has scored 11 goals 7 assists (source – Transfermarkt).
Kante has enjoyed a lot of success over the last 5 years. He has won 2 league titles, a Europa League and to top it off, the FIFA World Cup in 2018 with France.
It has been 4 years but United are yet to see the best of Paul Pogba on a regular basis. So many midfield combinations have been tried with various players. Yet, none seem to produce the form Pogba displays for France on international duty.
Enter N’Golo Kante. Pogba and Kante are the midfield lynchpins of France’s talented team. They are a duo who complement each other’s qualities and it allows them to operate at maximum productivity. Kante sits back deep and breaks down the opposition while Pogba is left free to influence the attacking third.
Now imagine that with the added flair from Bruno Fernandes. United would have one of the best midfield trios in Europe. He could be an upgrade on Matic, who is one the wrong side of his 30’s. Kante’s intelligent ability to cut off the opponent’s passes and start moves for his team would surely be something that United could use.
It would be foolish of United to pass up the chance to sign a world-class midfielder like Kante, who can drastically improve the team. With Chelsea open to selling, this is one player United cannot afford to slip through their hands.
