N’Golo Kante is headed to Saudi Arabia.
With his trademark “Herw we go”, Fabrizio Romano, a journalist who is well versed in European soccer news, reported on Sunday that “N’Golo Kante has agreed to join Al Ittihad as a free agent from Chelsea. Kante is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia shortly and will sign a two-year contract.”
“Kante will receive a salary of €100 million per season. This figure includes likeness rights, advertising contracts, etc. The main part of the medical has already been completed in London.”
French international Kante began his career with Ligue 2 side US Boulogne before moving on to SM Caen and then Leicester City in 2015. At the time, Kante’s move from the French second division didn’t attract much attention. However, Kante proved his worth with his performances. He earned his first start against Bournemouth in the fourth round of the playoffs and was a regular starter from then on.
Kante is a short player at 168 centimeters. Despite this, he has proven his worth in the tough English Premier League (EPL). His low center of gravity allowed him to take on players much taller than him, and he showed his strengths in workrate, tackles, and interceptions. He played a key role in Leicester’s fairytale title run in 2015-16.
Chelsea came calling soon after, and Kante made his new home with the Blues in 2016. Kante quickly became a regular starter at Chelsea, playing over 35 games each season. This helped him win the EPL title in 2016-17 and the English FA Cup in 2017-18.
However, injuries became increasingly frequent. At the age of 31, Kante has been plagued by injuries, big and small, since last season. This season, injury struck again. Kante looked good in the opening leg and the second leg against Tottenham Hotspur. However, he suffered a hamstring injury against Spurs and had to be subbed out.
The injury lingered for a long time. It took Kante a whopping eight months to return to action. After his return, he started to play a little bit, but he was injured again a month before the end of the season. This season, Kante played just nine games in all competitions and was effectively labeled a non-factor.스포츠토토
Kante was under contract with Chelsea until June 2023. Chelsea were considering re-signing him due to his frequent injuries and age. This is when Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad came along with a €100 million offer, and Kante will be heading to Al Ittihad.
This gives Al Ahly two top European players this summer. The club had already officially announced the signing of Benzema on July 7. Al Ittihad have been top of the Saudi Pro League this season under the guidance of Nuno Espirito Santo.