Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
There are not many midfielders out there that work as hard as N’Golo Kante, the former Leicester City man has been a real revelation in the Premier League and has had such an impact on and off the pitch with his humble personality.
Kante started off his career with French third division side Boulogne in 2011 but only made one appearance in his first season with the club.
After a successful campaign on a personal level in 2012/2013 he earned a move to Caen in Ligue 2 which ultimately led to his life-changing transfer to Leicester City where he won the Premier League for the first time.
Since joining Chelsea in 2016, Kante’s reputation as a hard-working midfielder has only become better and he is easily one of the most loved players after all.
In his first season for the West-London side, he won his second consecutive Premier League title and he also won the FA Cup in 2018.
On an international level Kante enjoyed World Cup success with France in 2018 and they were also the runner-ups at Euro 2016 after losing 1-0 to Portugal in Saint-Denis, France.
Now we will take a look at what the football world has to say about Kante! Here are a few quotes on N’golo Kante:
“N’Golo Kante is by far the best player in the Premier League this season.”
—Sir Alex Ferguson
“This player Kante, he was running so hard that I thought he must have a pack full of batteries hidden in his shorts. He never stopped running in training. I tell him: ‘One day, I’m going to see you cross the ball, and then finish the cross with a header yourself.’ He’s unbelievable.”
—Claudio Ranieri
“I’d say Kante is the best central midfielder in world football, I really would.”
—Frank Lampard
“To be the man mountain that he is, and the size he is, says a lot about him.” unbelievable.”
—David Beckham
“He is one of the most influential midfielders I’ve seen play football. He constantly makes simple decisions and never overcomplicates it,”
—Arsene Wenger
“His impact has been absolutely incredible. When you watch him in games, he’s infectious. He’s all over the pitch.”
—Gary Neville
“He is a fantastic player. He is a like a rat, he goes everywhere. He has a top mentality and is a top guy.” unbelievable.”
—Eden Hazard
“I don’t want N’Golo Kante to be compared with me. Kante can be Kante. I want him to be more than me, but I love to watch him play because you can see in him the joy. I love the kind of player like that, who plays for the team. Sometimes you see a team with big players, but for me whenever a team is winning it is because of spirit.” unbelievable.”
—Claude Makelele
“When you have N’Golo in your team, you can think you are playing with one player more. You can find a smile on his face every day. He is a very positive guy and one of the best players I have had in my career as a manager.”
—Antonio Conte
“N’Golo Kante obviously made a huge difference with no perceptible change in his levels of fitness, tackling quality or general ability after a month long lay-off. It adds to the theory he may in fact not be altogether built like the rest of us human beings.” unbelievable.”
—Pat Nevin
“I played with N’Golo for a season and there was not really a game I didn’t enjoy playing next to him. I am looking forward hopefully to carrying on where we left off. I think we hit it off from the first game and after that we did not really lose. He is a top lad, the most down-to-earth person you will meet. I can’t see him changing much and I am looking forward to meeting him again.”
—Danny Drinkwater
“Congratulations N’Golo Kante, PFA Player of the Year, You have been absolute superb all season mate, fully deserved and always special to receive recognition from your fellow players.
A true gentleman off the pitch and we are lucky to have you at our football club “
—John Terry via Instagram
“N’Golo is whole, natural. He always has a smile. He has expressed his feelings. I told him, ‘respect’.”
—Didier Deschamps
“Everybody knows that N’Golo Kante can run for 11 players – that’s his best quality…He’s everywhere!” unbelievable.”
—Paul Pogba
“Chelsea one up at halftime after Kante did to Ranieri what Kante did for Ranieri so frequently.”
—Gary Lineker
“I was at the Chelsea training ground last week to see Eden Hazard and noticed Kante wandering back to the changing rooms. So I went over to him and stood in front of him. And I poked him in the chest. I had to, just to check if he was real!”
—Thierry Henry
“Griezmann? He’s a great player, in addition, there’s N’Golo Kante, who plays with me at Chelsea.”
“They’re a national team with many talents, which collectively makes them very dangerous.”
—Diego Costa
“Kante is extraordinary. He brings a lot of quantity, OK, but what quality too.” unbelievable.”
—Antonio Conte
“He is a nightmare to play against because he covers so much ground, puts you under pressure and never wastes the ball.
“He was superb against Middlesbrough on Sunday and you only have to look at how much Leicester have struggled without him to see the impact he makes.”
—Jamie Redknapp
“He’s always running a lot in training and games. [We have to say] ’N’Golo, calm! But no, he’s a very good player with a good mentality, always winning and this is good.”
—Pedro
“Now N’Golo is becoming famous for chasing around and making tackles that recover the ball and end up in goals, but he does other things very well.”
—Cesc Fabregas
“With him, everyone in that dressing room will say fair play, because everyone loves him.”
“He is a manager’s dream, not just for what he does on the pitch, but for what he does off it.
“He is low maintenance, what does that mean? As a manager or a coach, you will always wonder or worry at the weekend what your players are up to. With him, you know he is going to be in bed at half nine, his boots are going to be polished next to his bed, and if it’s snowing the next morning he’s going to be running into work.”
—Steve Sidwell
“He’s not really a boss, it’s not his style. He’s not very expressive, expansive, but it’s better to have him with you than against you,”
“He’s capable of playing in every central position in midfield, it’s no problem.
“He had an excellent season last year, was at the Euro and again has produced some very high-level performances this year.
“What’s more, he’s also scoring goals!”
—Didier Deschamps
“In very important games Lampard went with Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic until the last month with injuries, In Kante’s first year, he came to Chelsea and I made it public that he is the best central midfielder in the world. After a previous season as a number eight in that different position, we lost how important and unique he was as a player.”
—Gus Poyet
“For a midfielder like me who’s into passing and controlling the game, it’s not easy to play against someone like him. You feel like you’re past him and then he just appears again”
—Ilkay Gündoğan
“He’s a player I’d like to have had in my team for many years. He’s not going to come to Japan, but he’s definitely a player I love because of the work he does on the field and the confidence he has in his game.
“His mastery makes him the centrepiece of Chelsea and the France national team.”
—Andres Iniesta
“What a player! He wins every second ball and is always on the move. His position is very clever and he is a great player.””
—Ronald Koeman
