Who The Hell Are You? Vol. 3: N’Golo Kante
By Ben Croft
In the third edition of ‘Who The Hell Are You?’, we profile Chelsea FC signing N’Golo Kante as we find out just who the hell he is.
N’Golo Kante became Chelsea’s second signing of the summer and one which Antonio Conte was delighted with. The Chelsea boss confirmed he was a target and is exactly the type of player the team needed. So who is N’Golo Kante and why should Chelsea fans be excited to see him in a Chelsea shirt?
Name: N’Golo Kante
DOB: 26/03/91
Nationality: France
Position: Centre-midfield
N’Golo Kante was born in Paris, France. He began his youth career at French club JS Suresnes at which he spent nine years. In 2010, he moved to Boulogne where he spent a year playing at youth level but he took the step up to the first team in 2011. He made his debut at the end of the Ligue 2 campaign against Monaco appearing as a substitute. Now in the third-tier of French football, the 2012/13 season saw Kante play 37 out of 38 league games and score three goals before making a move to Caen in 2013.
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Caen were in Ligue 2 at the time and in the 2013/14 season Kante was an influential figure in their promotion campaign which saw him play all 38 league games. The following season saw him feature in all but one of Caen’s 38 league games in the French top-flight. He once again proved to be a vital part of their midfield that saw them see off relegation and remain in Ligue 1.
After a two-year spell at Caen and a 14 year stay in French football, Kante decided to cross the channel to England and go to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester after they avoided relegation. Kante was scouted by Steve Walsh who was also responsible for the transfers of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
Kante’s first appearance in a Leicester shirt came against Sunderland on the opening day of the 2015/16 season which saw him replace Jamie Vardy in the final five minutes of the game. He went on to start the rest of Leicester’s matches, helping them secure the Premier League title.
Kante was an integral part of Ranieri’s title-winning side with phenomenal statistics for the percentage of successful tackles, interceptions and passes, as well as a considerable amount of distance covered per game. He was constantly breaking up the play and comparisons started to be drawn between him and Chelsea legend Claude Makelele.
His good form for Leicester earned him a call up to the French national team for friendlies against Holland and Russia. Being born to Malian parents, Kante was twice offered the chance to play for Mali but opted to represent France.
He made his debut at the Amsterdam Arena against Holland appearing as a substitute and then he started against Russia at the Stade de France in which he opened the scoring on their way to a 4-2 victory.
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His consistency for Leicester rightly earned him a place in the French squad for the European Championships. The opening game saw him play the full 90 minutes against Romania in which he made the most tackles, interceptions, passes and covered the most distance.
He was an unused substitute in the final where France lost 1-0 to Portugal but six days after that game it was announced that N’Golo Kante was a Chelsea player. Chelsea paid around £32 million for the French international and he was delighted with the move saying it was “a dream come true”.
So what will Kante bring to Chelsea? He will bring energy, a high amount of tackles and interceptions, he will break up the play, he will quickly transform defence into attack and will cover an incredible amount of distance.
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He is the complete midfielder and won’t take any time to adapt to the Premier League because he already has a season under his belt. Antonio Conte admitted that he was a target since the start of the transfer window and feels that he will suit the kind of football he wants to play. Welcome to Chelsea N’Golo Kante!