N'Golo Kanté

N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the France national team. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of his generation, he is known for his stamina and work-rate on the pitch.

Kanté made his senior professional debut with Boulogne in 2012, appearing as a substitute in one Ligue 2 match, and played an entire season in the third division the following year. After that he joined Ligue 2 side Caen on a free transfer, finished third and won promotion to Ligue 1. He stayed with the club for one more year, where he helped lead the team to a mid-table finish. In 2015, Kanté joined Leicester City for a fee worth £5.6 million.

Kanté was an integral part of the Leicester City team that were surprise Premier League champions in 2016. The following year, he joined Chelsea for a fee worth £32 million and again won the league, making him the first outfield player to win consecutive English league titles with different clubs since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993. With Chelsea he won the FA Cup, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. After seven seasons with Chelsea, he left on a free transfer to Saudi club Al-Ittihad during the summer of 2023.

Individually, Kanté has been awarded the Premier League Player of the Season, the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year, the UEFA Men's Midfielder of the year, and the Trophées UNFP for Best French Player Abroad twice.

Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016 and was included in the squad that finished runners-up at the 2016 European Championship. In 2017, Kanté was named the French Player of the Year, a first for a player from the Premier League in seven years, and twelve months later was a key member of the 2018 FIFA World Cup winning squad.

Club career

Boulogne

Born in Paris to Malian parents, Kanté began his career at the age of eight at JS Suresnes, in the western suburbs of the capital, remaining there for a decade. According to assistant manager Pierre Ville, Kanté remained outside the radar of big teams because of his small stature and selfless styles of play. He was rejected from the academy at Clairefontaine during this time. During his last season with Suresnes, in Promotion d'Honneur (PH, French 9th senior level), he scored 10 goals. In 2010, after Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger passed on the offer of signing Kanté, Suresnes' president (one of Wenger's best friends) personally drove him around to visit different clubs. He joined the reserve team of Boulogne, and made his professional debut in the last game of the Ligue 2 season on 18 May 2012, a 1–2 home defeat for his already relegated team to Monaco. He replaced Virgile Reset for the final 11 minutes.

During the 2012–13 season, he played in the third-tier Championnat National, missing only one league game. On 10 August, he scored his first senior goal, the only one in a win over Luzenac at the Stade de la Libération, and he added two more over the campaign.

Caen

In 2013, he joined Ligue 2 side Caen and played all 38 games in his first season as they came third in Ligue 2, earning them promotion to Ligue 1. In his second match on 9 August, he scored his first goal to equalise in a 2–1 win at Laval; he levelled again with his other goal of the campaign on 11 April 2014, in a 3–2 win at Istres.

The following season, Kanté played 37 games as Caen remained in the top flight; his one absence was suspension through being sent off in a 0–1 home loss to Rennes on 30 August. Three weeks earlier, he scored their first goal of the season in a 3–0 win at Evian. He recovered the ball more times over the season than any other player in Europe.

Leicester City

Kanté was scouted for Premier League club Leicester City by Steve Walsh, who had previously facilitated the transfers of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez to the team. He was identified as the successor to Esteban Cambiasso. On 3 August 2015, he joined Leicester on a four-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be worth €8 million (£5.6 million). He made his debut five days later by replacing Vardy for the final eight minutes of a 4–2 home win over Sunderland. On 7 November, he scored his first Premier League goal, in a 2–1 home win against Watford.

He earned much praise and many plaudits for his consistently impressive displays for Leicester, and was widely considered to be a major factor in the club's excellent form as they went on to win the 2015–16 Premier League, consistently making a high number of tackles and interceptions. In April, he was one of four Leicester players named in the PFA Team of the Year. By the end of the season, Kanté had managed 175 tackles (31 more than any other player) and 157 interceptions (15 more than any other player), topping the defensive stats at the end of the 2015–16 Premier League season.

Chelsea

2016–2018: League and FA Cup champion

On 16 July 2016, Kanté signed a five-year deal with Chelsea who reportedly paid £32 million in transfer fees. Arsenal allegedly backed out of the deal due to agent fees involved which totaled more than £10 million, instead opting to sign Granit Xhaka. Due to disputes arising from the sharing of agent fees, Kanté was reported to have been subject to death threats, a claim which he later denied. Kanté was given the number 7 shirt, left vacant since the exit of Ramires in January. According to Football Leaks, Chelsea offered to transfer a part of the salary into an offshore account to avoid taxes. Kanté refused; his lawyer stated in an email that "N'Golo is flexible, he simply wants a normal salary."

On 15 August 2016, Kanté made his competitive debut in their season opener against West Ham United. Despite picking up a yellow card in the first three minutes of the game, he shone as the game went on, to help Chelsea to a 2–1 victory. Three months after his move to London, he faced his former side Leicester City for the first time, and was Man of the Match in a 3–0 victory. On 23 October, he scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 home win against Manchester United.

On 26 December 2016, Kanté was named by L'Équipe as the world's sixth best footballer of 2016. On 13 March 2017, Kanté was named man of the match and scored the only goal in the 51st minute, in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. On 20 April, Kanté was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the second consecutive season. He was also later named the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year, and the Premier League Player of the Season. Kanté become the first player since Eric Cantona in 1993 to win back‑to-back top-flight titles in England with two clubs. Kanté was nominated for the Ballon d'Or in October 2017. He would go on to gain an FA Cup winners medal, appearing for the whole 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory over Manchester United in the final on 19 May 2018. BBC Sport awarded him the man of the match award.

2018–2023: European and World champion

He signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea on 23 November 2018, making him Chelsea's highest-paid player. Kanté scored the first goal of Chelsea's 2–1 EFL Cup semi-final second leg win at home to Tottenham Hotspur. The score was tied 2–2 on aggregate at the end of 90 minutes, with Chelsea winning the shootout 4–2. Kanté scored on his 300th club appearance, a 2–2 home draw against Burnley on 22 April. Despite not being fully fit, Kanté started the 2018–19 Europa League final and dominated Arsenal's midfield as Chelsea won 4–1.

Kanté started the 2019 Premier League campaign from the bench as Chelsea suffered a 4–0 away defeat to Manchester United. He had been out for almost a month including missing the Champions League opener against Valencia because of ankle injury. Kanté scored the only goal in a 1–2 loss against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on 22 September 2019. His first goal of the season was nominated for the Premier League Goal of the Month award along with his Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori. Kanté marked his 150th Chelsea appearance with a goal against Manchester City, in a 1–2 away defeat on 23 November. Later that month Kanté revealed he decided against moving to PSG and said, "‘Sometimes we do not necessarily know where we want to go, but we know what we have." He said he felt good in London and had faith in the project at Chelsea.

In May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanté chose to train from home after Chelsea resumed training on site. The club supported his stance, even if he would miss the rest of the season. Kanté impressed in the Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion, in a 3–1 away win on 14 September 2020.