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N'Golo Kanté

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N'Golo Kanté
Kanté after training with Caen in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-03-29) 29 March 1991 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Youth career
2001–2010 JS Suresnes
2010–2011 Boulogne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Boulogne 38 (3)
2013–2015 Caen 75 (4)
2015–2016 Leicester City 37 (1)
2016– Chelsea 0 (0)
International career‡
2016– France 8 (1)
Medal record
Representing France
Silver medal – second place European Championship 2016
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 May 2016
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:59, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the France national team, as a central midfielder.

He made his senior debut at Boulogne and then spent two seasons at Caen, the latter in Ligue 1. In 2015, he signed for Leicester City for a fee of €8 million, winning the Premier League in his first season. In the summer of 2016, Kanté signed for Chelsea.

Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016, and was included in their squad for that year's European Championship.

Club career

Boulogne

Born in Paris, Kanté began his career at Suresnes before moving to US 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 AS Monaco, replacing Virgile Reset for the final 11 minutes.[2]

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 US Luzenac at the Stade de la Libération,[3] and he added two more over the campaign.

Caen

In 2013 he joined Ligue 2 side SM 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 game on 9 August, he scored his first goal to equalise in a 2–1 win at Stade Lavallois;[4] he levelled again with his other goal of the campaign on 11 April 2014, in a 3–2 win at FC Istres.[5]

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 Stade Rennais on 30 August.[6] Three weeks earlier, he scored their first goal of the season in a 3–0 win at Evian Thonon Gaillard.[7]

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.[8] On 3 August 2015, he joined Leicester on a four-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be €8 million (£5.6 million).[9][10] He made his debut five days later by replacing Jamie Vardy for the final eight minutes of a 4–2 home win over Sunderland and scored his first Premier League goal against Watford in a 2–1 win at the King Power Stadium on 7 November.[11]

He earned much praise and many plaudits for his consistently impressive displays for Leicester City, and is widely considered to be a major factor in the club's excellent form in the 2015–16 season, consistently making a high number of tackles and interceptions.[12][13] In April, having made a season-record 149 tackles, he was one of four Leicester players named in the PFA Team of the Year.[14]

Chelsea

On 16 July 2016, he 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."[15][16]

International career

Born to Malian parents, Kanté was approached by Mali ahead of the 2015 African 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.[17] Mali issued a further invitation to Kanté in January 2016,[18] although he stated that he was still undecided about which national team to represent should he get an invite from France.[19]

On 17 March 2016, Kanté was selected for the France senior squad for the first time to face the Netherlands and Russia in friendlies.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

On 10 June 2016, Kanté appeared in his first competitive match for France by being in the starting line-up of the opening match of Euro 2016 (France versus Romania). He made the most passes, the most tackles, the most interceptions, and also covered the most distance on the pitch of all the players in that match (he played every minute of it). In the 89th minute, he made a short, forward pass to Dimitri Payet, who unleashed a curling and powerful left-footed shot into the top corner from 2 metres outside the penalty box to score France's winning goal (France won the match 2–1).[23][24][25]

Style of play

After his first senior goal, French regional newspaper La Voix du Nord likened Kanté to Claude Makélélé in his early days at FC Nantes. After asking the player if he considered Makélélé his role model, Kanté instead said that his was Lassana Diarra.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 15 May 2016[26][27]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Boulogne 2011–12 Ligue 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2012–13 CN 37 3 2 1 0 0 39 4
Total 38 3 2 1 0 0 40 4
Caen 2013–14 Ligue 2 38 2 4 1 1 0 43 3
2014–15 Ligue 1 37 2 1 1 1 0 39 3
Total 75 4 5 2 2 0 82 6
Leicester City 2015–16 Premier League 37 1 1 0 2 0 40 1
Chelsea 2016-17 Premier League
Career total 150 8 8 3 4 0 162 11

International

As of match played 7 July 2016.
National team Year Apps Goals
France 2016 8 1
Total 8 1

International goals

Scores and results list France's goal tally first.[28]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 29 March 2016 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Russia
1–0
4–2
 Friendly

Honours

Club

Leicester City

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "Premier League Player Profile N'Golo Kanté". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  2. ^ "US Boulogne vs. Monaco - 18 May 2012 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  3. ^ a b "Ngolo Kanté fait souffler un vent de fraîcheur sur Boulogne". La Voix du Nord (in French). 12 August 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Stade Lavallois : À Caen la victoire !" (in French). La Mayenne, on adore !. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Le SM Caen remonte sur le podium de la Ligue 2" (in French). France 3. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Malherbe pas récompensé de ses efforts". Liberté (in French). 30 August 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Evian-Caen (0-3)" (in French). Goal.com. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. ^ Percy, John (17 January 2016). "Arsenal raid Leicester for highly-rated scout who helped sign Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Leicester City: N'Golo Kante signs from Caen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Leicester sign N'Golo Kante from Caen but Charles Aranguiz not keen". ESPN FC. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Leicester City: Leicester beat Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Jamie Carragher: Leicester's N'Golo Kante has impressed me more than Arsenal's Petr Cech". Daily Express. 1 January 2016.
  13. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (23 January 2016). "Leicester 3-0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  14. ^ "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Kante Signs". Chelsea FC. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  16. ^ "N'Golo Kante seals £32m transfer from Leicester to Chelsea". Sky Sports. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  17. ^ "N'Golo Kanté (Caen) pourrait choisir de représenter le Mali". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 10 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "N'Golo Kante: Mali make second approach to midfielder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Leicester's N'Golo Kante undecided over possible France, Mali call-ups". ESPN FC. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Equipe de France : Ngolo Kanté et Dimitri Payet appelés par Didier Deschamps". L'EQUIPE (in French). 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Sharpe, James (25 March 2016). "Leicester City NEWS: N'Golo Kante makes France debut in win over Holland as Johan Cruyff remembered". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  22. ^ "Birthday boys N'Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet help France to victory". Eurosport. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Payet stunner gives hosts France opening win". www.uefa.com. 10 June 2016.
  24. ^ "Payet's late stunner helps France floor Romania". 11 June 2016.
  25. ^ "Leicester City star N'Golo Kante admits Euro 2016 will be tough after shining in France victory". Leicester Mercury. 11 June 2016.
  26. ^ "N. KANTÉ". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  27. ^ "N'Golo Kante". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  28. ^ "N'Golo Kanté profile". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  29. ^ "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
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