N’Golo Kante reads characters like he reads the play, rejected Mourinho’s offer

N’Golo Kante reads a man’s character every bit as well as he reads opposing offenses. The French midfielder spoke with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, and promptly made up his mind to sign with Chelsea.

N’Golo Kante’s mastery on the pitch borders on the psychic. Once the opposition plays the ball into the middle third, Kante is literally (literally!) one step ahead of the other team. He regularly precedes the ball and the man into open space to break up the play, resulting in a staggering 4.2 interceptions per game last season.

The Frenchman employed that same keen awareness, perception and judgment in deciding where he would play this season. Manchester United put Kante high on their transfer list after Sir Alex Ferguson called Kante the best player in the Premier League last season. United’s pursuit involved manager Jose Mourinho calling Kante in an attempt to woo the midfielder to the Red Devils.

must read: Cesc Fabregas and N'Golo Kante: Chelsea's tale of two midfielders

But of course, Kante had done his homework. He was already deciding between Chelsea and Leicester City, he saw the counter-press coming and was well-prepared.

"It was amazing to have Mourinho call me, even though I’d been warned before how he would appeal to me. I listened to his arguments about why I should move to United… My discussions with [Chelsea] were already well underway. But when I spoke, I had a good feeling with Conte. – SkySports (emphasis added)"

If we thought he was capable of such things, we’d say that Jose Mourinho might now have some empathy with Premier League forwards. He knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a N’Golo Kante read-disrupt-dispossess maneuver.

One wonders who warned Kante, and what his source knew Mourinho would say. Plenty of players have fallen under the Portuguese’s spell. An equal (or greater) number have experienced the flip side of Mourinho’s machiavellian personality.

Just as Kante can instantly evaluate and predict what will happen on the pitch, he knew how the conversation with Mourinho would go. As he gamed out various sequences of future events in his head, he likely foresaw a series of trophies followed by dysfunction, disappointment and anguish.

Not that one needs Kante’s skills to know that those lie at the end of any Mourinho journey.

Kante must feel particularly satisfied with his decision, and perhaps a bit relieved, as events played out in the pre-season. Jose Mourinho dismissively discarded many key players at Manchester United. Mourinho’s treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Adnan Januszaj, in particular, validated the warnings Kante received and any misgivings of his own. Kante and others likely watched and wondered if, someday, they would have faced the same fate under the Portuguese.

Next: Who the hell are you? Vol. 4: Marcos Alonso

Evaluating his future under two world-class coaches, Kante chose the Antonio Conte “revolution” over the latest iteration of the Mourinho soap opera. With that kind of skill at disrupting Mourinho’s schemes, October 23 is going to be a greater day than usual to see Kante in Blue.