Chelsea: Paying tribute to Kanté as he departs Blues for Al Ittihad
N’Golo Kante’s departure a brutal blow to Chelsea midfield who now enter a new era for the Blues
The Frenchmen won 161 tackles during his first two campaigns with the Blues including his second season in which he collected 198 tackles plus interceptions, 64 more than any player during league play. His most notable statistic has to be 395 tackles won across all competitions since joining the west London outfit. Nobody was better at distributing the flow of the game for the opposition than a prime Kante. His prowess as a defensive midfielder will always been remembered fondly.
The French international’s days in the Premier League may be over, the mark he left will last forever. Unlike Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder on the women’s side, Kante will not get a deserved farewell in front of the home fans in west London. For CFC fans, that is the toughest part. At least in his last match for the Blues, Kante contributed to a goal that helped guarantee the safety of the club for next season’s top-flight campaign.
He is undoubtably one of the greatest players to ever put on a CFC shirt. Few in the history of the game could do what he did during his prime on the football pitch. Manchester City said it best, “Kante has been everywhere all game, if we can bypass him we might be in business.” Not even the brightest mind in the game on the biggest stage in club football could master the kind of quality the Blues’ former No. 7 brought.
The Paris native manned the middle of the pitch on one-leg in the 2018/2019 Europa League final against Arsenal, and without him during the 2020/2021 Champions League run, the Blues would have been dusted far before the final. He was a different breed of footballer. Just like it says in the East Stand at the Bridge, “They don’t make them like Ray anymore.” In today’s game, they don’t make them like ‘NG’ anymore either.
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The community here at the PoL and every Chelsea fan around the world would like to thank N’Golo Kante for his time and contributions to the club as a whole over the past seven years. We wish him nothing but the best going forward.