N’Golo Kanté

Biography

N’Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team. He made his senior debut at Boulogne and then spent two seasons at Caen, the latter in Ligue 1. In 2015, he joined Leicester City for a fee of £5.6 million and became an integral member of the club’s first ever Premier League title in his only season at the club. The following year, he joined Chelsea for a reported fee of £32 million, winning the league again in his first season. He also won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year and became the first outfield player to win back-to-back English league titles with different clubs since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993. Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016. He was included in their squad that finished runners-up at that year’s European Championship. Two years later, he was a key member of the French team that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Family

Kanté’s parents migrated to France from Mali in 1980, and he grew up in a small flat in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine. He is named after King Ngolo Diarra of the Bamana Empire. As of 2017, his younger sister was in the youth system at Suresnes. At the start of his professional career at Boulogne, he commuted to training by kick scooter, and as of 2017 he drove a Mini Hatch, interpreted by BBC Sport’s Paul Fletcher as showing he is “uninterested in displaying his wealth”. Kanté is a practising Muslim.

Club career

Boulogne

Born in Paris, 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 style of play. Through the contacts of Suresnes’ president in 2010, he joined the reserve team of Boulogne. He 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, replacing 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. On 3 August 2015, he joined Leicester on a four-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be €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. Kanté was the only key member of the squad to leave the club in the summer of 2016. His departure proved a major factor in Leicester’s sharp decline in form in the 2016–17 season, as the club was unable to find an equally skilled midfielder to replace him.

Chelsea

2016–17 season

On 16 July 2016, Kanté signed for Chelsea for a reported fee of £32 million. After signing a five-year contract with the club, Kanté said: “I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me.” According to Football Leaks, Kanté was offered a deal where a part of his salary would be transferred into an offshore account to avoid taxes. Kanté chose to refuse the deal, with his lawyer stating in an email: “N’golo is flexible, he simply wants a normal salary.” Kanté was given the number 7 shirt, left vacant since the exit of Ramires in January. 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 different clubs.

2017–18 season

In October 2017, Kanté was nominated for the Ballon d’Or, which is awarded to the best player in world football. He would go onto 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.

2018–19 season

On 23 November 2018, Kanté signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea. On 24 January, he 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.

National career

Born to Malian parents, Kanté was approached by Mali ahead of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations having not played for France in any of their age group teams. Kanté declined on the basis that he was still trying to establish himself in Ligue 1. Mali issued a further invitation to Kanté in January 2016, although he stated that he was still undecided about which national team to represent should he get an invite from France. On 17 March 2016, Kanté was selected for the France senior squad for the first time to face the Netherlands and Russia in friendlies. He made his debut against the former eight days later, replacing Lassana Diarra at half time in a 3–2 win at the Amsterdam Arena. On his 25th birthday, 29 March, he made his first start and scored to open a 4–2 win over Russia at the Stade de France; fellow birthday celebrant Dimitri Payet also scored. On 10 June 2016, Kanté appeared in his first competitive match for France by starting the opening match of Euro 2016 against Romania; he played the entire match, made the most passes, the most tackles, the most interceptions, covered the most distance on the pitch and assisted Dimitri Payet’s winning goal in a 2–1 victory. In the round of 16 match against the Republic of Ireland at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Kanté picked up a yellow card in the 27th minute (his second of Euro 2016 which would cause him to be suspended from the quarter-final) and was replaced with Kingsley Coman in the 46th minute with the French trailing 0–1 at half time. Kanté was unused in the final, which France lost 1–0 to Portugal after extra time. On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He featured in all 7 matches for France in the tournament. On 15 July, Kanté started in France’s 4–2 win over Croatia in the final of the tournament.