Almost every major player in football will be subject to a story that says they came so close to joining another team, but this is one of those rumours that does sound true.
A report from The Telegraph has indicated that current Chelsea star N’Golo Kante was close to joining Arsenal in 2016 when he left Arsenal, but a late pitch from Antonio Conte saved the day.
It’s a tough one to take for Gunners fans as Kante is exactly what their midfield has been crying out for, but hindsight shows he probably did make the right call in terms of his career.
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It’s confirmed that he was to join Arsenal in a deal worth around £30m which now looks like an absolute steal, but Conte picked up the phone and promised him that he would replicate his title winning success at Leicester if he moved to Stamford Bridge instead.
That turned out to be true as Chelsea went on to win the Premier League, while he also has a real chance of winning the Champions League too as Chelsea appear to be the slight favourites going into their second leg tonight.
There will always be a feeling of what could’ve been if he did go to Arsenal but it’s unlikely that the title would’ve followed, and you can be sure that Kante and the Chelsea fans are delighted to hear that Conte did pick up the phone.