Chelsea Transfer News: Huge N'Golo Kante Offer Prepared Amid Arsenal Rumours

Chelsea are reportedly ready to treble N’Golo Kante’s current salary at Leicester City, although it’s been stated that Arsenal are also ready to act fast to secure the player. 

According to Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror, the Blues are set to tempt the France international with the promise of a lucrative five-year deal at Stamford Bridge. It’s suggested Kante has a £20 million release clause in his Foxes contract and Chelsea will pay him around £100,000 a week should he join.

However, according to L’Equipe (h/t Get French Football News), the Gunners are to “take action imminently” in their pursuit of the Foxes star, claiming they will offer as much as €40 million (£31.1 million) to get a deal done quickly despite the clause in his contract. Interest from the Blues and Manchester City is also noted, but the player is said to prefer Arsenal.

Per Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Johnson, it’s also noted by L’Equipe that the midfielder wants to take some time to consider his options:

It’s no surprise to see Kante linked with so many illustrious football clubs. The former Caen dynamo settled into Premier League football perfectly in his debut term, quickly becoming the standout central-midfield player in the division.

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Midfielders typically have defined roles in the modern game, tasked with spoiling, playmaking or creating specifically. But Kante showed last season that he can do it all. Despite his slight body, he’s a powerful player, able to nick possession off opponents and win tackles due to his dynamism.

There’s more to his game than defensive attributes, though. Here’s how he compared to Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic and Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin last term:

	Kante	Matic	Coquelin
Apps (Sub)	33 (4)	28 (5)	21 (5)
Goals	1	2	0
Assists	4	2	0
Tackles per game	4.7	2.5	2.8
Interceptions per game	4.2	2	2.9
Passes per game	39.2	48.7	42.9
Passing accuracy	81.6 %	88.1 %	89.1 %
Dribbles per game	1.3	1.2	1.2

For the Blues, getting Kante on board would be an enormous boost. There were times last term when the midfield axis forged by former manager Jose Mourinho disintegrated, as Matic struggled for form, Cesc Fabregas looked disinterested and Ramires was moved on.

It’ll be an area new head coach Antonio Conte is sure to address. His Juventus sides always operated with energetic and effective players in the middle of the park, making someone like Kante a perfect fit for the intense style of football the Italian will seek to play.

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Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones thought Kante was the standout player in the entire Premier League last season, epitomising the way in which Leicester played their football:

The problem for Chelsea will be if some other clubs also bid for the player; given what is a relatively meagre release clause of £20 million, they surely will. Both Arsenal and City could offer Kante the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League next term, something the Blues can’t do at this juncture.

That could push Chelsea into pursuing different targets, and AS Roma’s Radja Nainggolan is one, according to Lewis. 

It’s noted in the piece that if the Blues were to land both Kante and the Belgium international, it could cast doubts over the future of Fabregas at the club. According to Simon Jones of the MailOnline, Chelsea recently had a £27 million bid rejected for Nainggolan.

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Like the Leicester man, Nainggolan is a tenacious, box-to-box presence. These numbers from WhoScored.com show what he could offer:

Bringing both players to the club may be beyond the Londoners. Kante, if reports are to be believed, would prefer to go elsewhere and is likely to have a lot of offers to choose from this summer. Meanwhile, Roma continue to take a stubborn stance when it comes to their own midfield general.