Chelsea: N’Golo Kante’s injuries remind too much of Michael Essien

N’Golo Kante is arguably Chelsea’s only world class player. His recent injuries, however, only remind of Michael Essien’s own slip from the top.

Newer Chelsea fans may not remember how completely amazing Michael Essien was in his prime. Even some older fans forget Essien’s contributions when discussing the legends of Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Didier Drogba.

Then the first big injury came. Then the next. Before anyone knew it, Essien had gone from a world class star in the squad to a shadow of his former self. Due to these injuries, he unfortunately left Chelsea without much fanfare or notice.

It is hard not to look at Essien’s story and not see the parallel’s in N’Golo Kante’s current predicaments. His most recent injury rules him out for what is easily Chelsea’s most difficult period of the season. It is not his first injury this season and based on the evidence, it will not be his last either.

Kante does not have the benefit of being surrounded by as many world class players as Essien did, but the effect of losing him is similar. When Essien fell out, Chelsea struggled for years to replace his dynamism in midfield. Arguably, it took until Kante himself to find that replacement.

Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are fine players, maybe even nearing world class on their best days, but they are not Kante. Neither can sniff out danger like Kante or pop up in seemingly every area to move the ball along. Kante’s skill set is unique, as is Kovacic’s and Jorginho’s. They overlap little, but the option to use any of them is always better than being forced into one choice or the other.

Chelsea, like with Essien, is not prepared for life after Kante. But that life may be approaching far more rapidly than anticipated. The Blues need some sort of solution.

This is not one of those “it is time to sell Kante” or “Kante does not fit the squad’s needs anymore” articles. Instead, Chelsea need to find someone who can step in when Kante cannot. Eventually, yes, that means a player to replace him. But in the short term, it just needs to be someone to fill the gap.

Perhaps that is the future fate of Ethan Ampadu when he returns. Or Andreas Christensen is redeployed into the midfield. Chelsea could also dip into the market for someone like Wilfred Ndidi. Regardless, Chelsea needs someone to step in to Kante’s specific role.

It took Chelsea arguably a decade to replace Essien’s role in the middle with Kante’s. For the vast majority of that time, other world class players could step up in other ways but that hole was still there.

Kante does not have that same luxury. The squad does not have that type of world class talent to pick up the slack. Maybe that changes in the summer, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the Blues need that Kante deputy/future replacement ready to go before (and if) the Frenchman fades away like the Bison.