The future of N’Golo Kante at Chelsea has been plunged into serious doubt under the club’s new owners, according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
The France international has been a great servant for Chelsea since joining from Leicester City back in 2016, establishing himself as one of the finest defensive midfielders of his generation.
Kante was instrumental to Chelsea’s latest Premier League title triumph in the 2016/17 campaign, when he was also named PFA Player of the Year. Now, however, he seems to be showing signs of being past his best.
Romano says it looks like a difficult negotiation to agree a new deal for Kante, whose current contract is due to expire at the end of this season, and it seems it’s become a particular issue under the club’s new owners.
“The agreement between Kante and Chelsea for a new contract is absolutely not close,” Romano said.
“The problem is the length of the contract, but so far even the salary is not yet on the same point.
“For months it has been considered a difficult negotiation, the contract extension was really close a year ago but now it has become complicated with the new owners.
“The situation is in total stand-by, as of now.”
. @StanCollymore relays a fascinating encounter he had with new #CFC boss Graham Potter while on holiday ??
"I asked him about all of it." ?
"It is no surprise, whatsoever, if Todd Boehly has done his homework…" ? pic.twitter.com/qHY2rwKvlv
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 12, 2022
Some Chelsea fans will no doubt be concerned by this news, as Kante remains a big favourite in the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Still, the 31-year-old has been a little more injury-prone in recent times, so perhaps the Blues would do well to be careful when it comes to extending his stay in west London.
It won’t be easy to replace a legendary figure like Kante, but it could be time for Chelsea to start thinking about a new era, and identifying a new player to build their midfield around in the next few months.