N'Golo Kante

[Teja]

Anyone who watched United play Chelsea at Old Trafford last month surely saw he’s not finished as a player by any means.

This.

Still he's very reliant on his physicality and I don't think he can cut it past one season. Hope we give him a short contract and don't tie him down on expensive wages if we go for him now.

Ronaldo type deal would be fine.

 

[Fortitude]

Did you see him against Liverpool ? He was basically the same as he was the last 3-4 years. He did things in terms of pressing and harassing no player in our team is close to doing

I would expect Kante to have some special performances throughout a season, even in a state of decline. What you're looking at is how much longer can it continue and especially so going into a multi-year contract. We should know too well what haggared looks like when we get a class player who hasn't much left at the level he made his name off of. Kante may hold his level, but it could also plummet in terms of fitness/injuries into form, and there's no way to not factor that into what you're potentially getting for extremely high wages that we are bound to should he sign.

Modifying his game and either becoming a sitter or working on blocking passing lanes rather than being proactive, all-action, could change the perspective a great deal, if he's got a natural aptitude for that, but it's also a gamble because that's not what has made him and he mightn't be able to transition into a Makelele light.

Anway, all factors need to be considered across short, medium and long-term of the potential contract, and it's obvious what a fit and firing Kante brings to the table, but we also have to look at everything else that is encroaching on the game he is renowned for.

 

[Bwuk]

Kante would be a great signing. Rotate his minutes so he isn’t run into the ground.

 

[Jacob]

I would be against this if it wasn't for the state of our midfield. Even I would improve it. Kante's mentality alone is worth it.

 

[Remember the geese]

Anyone who watched United play Chelsea at Old Trafford last month surely saw he’s not finished as a player by any means.

I was there that night and despite my opinion of him as a player, I thought he was very, very good. Him and Reece James were the best players on the pitch. Though they weren't up against much and still failed to win.

 

[dinostar77]

We should stay far far away from Kante. If hes already missing 60% of chelsea games this season, it will only get worse as he gets older. Plus i think midfielders who rely on their physical attributes i.e engine to get around the pitch, should be avoided once they get over 30. This would be like us signing a over the hill schweinsteiger or a injury prone hargreaves. Avoid.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Anyone who watched United play Chelsea at Old Trafford last month surely saw he’s not finished as a player by any means.

This is very true, wasn’t till this game I realised how quick the lil fecker is across the grass. Sure he chased down Rashford at one point who had a head start on him. Maybe thats not saying much given Rashfords form this season.

 

[lysglimt]

It's strange that Kante struggled to find a single French club to take him when he was 20 years old. When Ian Wright interviewed Wenger a while ago, Wenger said he eventually found a club in French division 3 willing to give him a chance. 4 seasons later he had signed for Leicester

 

[croadyman]

My only worry with him is the injuries he has started to pick up, wouldn't be against it if we could manage that properly.

 

[Zlatattack]

I really hope we give it a swerve. Excellent player on his day, but reguarly injured how and his game is reliant on his physicality. Age 31 is not the time to sign him.

 

[sdb4884]

Great player but so was Matic for one season for us as well, it's basically the same deal over again.

 

[Andrew7582]

I don't see the point in it, it's a 3 year project to sort this squad out and Kante will be finished by then.

 

[Dominos]

I don't see the point in it, it's a 3 year project to sort this squad out and Kante will be finished by then.

Agree, one of the reasons we brought in ETH was his medium-long term vision. Having said that he knows he's under pressure to get top 4 next season so he may be trying to balance short term fixes with his long term goals.

If he was a free agent or something like that it would be a no brainer but giving significant funds to a rival for an injury prone player past his best that they're not fussed about losing feels like a mistake.

 

[Andrew7582]

Agree, one of the reasons we brought in ETH was his medium-long term vision. Having said that he knows he's under pressure to get top 4 next season so he may be trying to balance short term fixes with his long term goals.

If he was a fee agent or something like that it would be a no brainer but giving significant funds to a rival for an injury prone player past his best that they're not fussed about losing feels like a mistake.

Agreed.

 

[WeePat]

Complete waste of time and we need to stop being a feeder club for Chelsea's cast offs, would have thought we would have learned our lesson from how they underwhelmingly have turned out and are now both leaving for free.

Same will happen with kante, pay over the odds in transfer and wages for a player on a downward trajectory with injuries mounting up with each one just speeding up the process of him being a complete spent force and will have 0 re-sale value

He isn't exactly a Chelsea cast-off. We are trying to extend his contract.

 

[Yagami]

He isn't exactly a Chelsea cast-off. We are trying to extend his contract.

Would you want to keep him as a starter?

 

[GoldanoGraham]

Smokescreen as never going to happen

 

[BenitoSTARR]

https://fbref.com/en/players/b9fbae28/NGolo-Kante

For what he’d be coming in our side to try and fix I don’t think he’s the right choice. 2/3 years ago perfect now he’s changed a bit and injuries have to be a concern.

 

[#07]

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[FrankDrebin]

Unfortunately we're not in a position where we can rotate Kante's minutes because, how shall I put this, our rotation options are sh*te.

The drop off would be so big that everybody would be clamouring for Kante to play 99% of the time.

Put Kante into a squad beaming with quality like City, Liverpool or Real Madrid and you'd get away with it. For us at this moment ? hell no.

 

[kthanksbye]

Didn't Tuchel say something like he was able to play only 40% of the games this season due to injuries?
We should stay clear of a 31yr old who primarily relies on physical attributes and has had a bad injury record off late.

Great player though, would've loved to have him 5 years ago.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Didn't Tuchel say something like he was able to play only 40% of the games this season due to injuries?
We should stay clear of a 31yr old who primarily relies on physical attributes and has had a bad injury record off late.

Great player though, would've loved to have him 5 years ago.

1777 minutes so about 1/2 of the PL minutes available. We can’t rely on that right now.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Kante signing this summer only makes sense if we sign him for free and give him 2 years contract. Chelsea ain't sell him for 0 penny or even 5m this summer, they would rather let him go for free next summer. So the idea of investing our money on Kante makes zero sense for the rebuilding project. Don't do the Matic signing again where we invested 40m and never sign a DM for the next 5 years since the board had this idea of signing for the next 5 years plan.

 

[sullydnl]

Didn't Tuchel say something like he was able to play only 40% of the games this season due to injuries?
We should stay clear of a 31yr old who primarily relies on physical attributes and has had a bad injury record off late.

Great player though, would've loved to have him 5 years ago.

Yep. And you could certainly argue we'd be more reliant on Kante than they are, in which case it would be a bigger issue again for us.

And it's not like we have a stellar ability to keep our players fit as is.

 

[WeePat]

Would you want to keep him as a starter?

Not sure he's capable of playing 80-90% of all our games like he used to, so yeah if he was fit enough to be a starter I would have him as a starter. What's likelier is that Chelsea will be careful with his fitness and manage his work load carefully. Keep him fit for the important games and just bring him off the bench here and there in other games. We have Jorginho, Kovacic and a returning Gallagher to cover for him.

 

[allen7]

Kante signing this summer only makes sense if we sign him for free and give him 2 years contract. Chelsea ain't sell him for 0 penny or even 5m this summer, they would rather let him go for free next summer. So the idea of investing our money on Kante makes zero sense for the rebuilding project. Don't do the Matic signing again where we invested 40m and never sign a DM for the next 5 years since the board had this idea of signing for the next 5 years plan.

This is a correct summary about this signing.
While chelsea get a promising young DM we will continue with Kante and him missing most of the matches with injuries.

 

[yamo123x]

Chelsea wont sell him to us, not a chance.

 

[Mainoldo]

Chelsea wont sell him to us, not a chance.

Like Mata and Matic? Us and Chelsea have a fine working relationship. There is no rivalry there.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Yeah, they see us coming.

 

[VinzentFTW]

Kante: Inury prone, declining and old. Typical United
FDJ: Marquee, Expensive, doesnt want to come. Years since he was really good. Typical United.

Cant see a change tbh. Its just the same old bs. None of these players required good scouting either. Why cant we find better suited, up and coming and more motivated players ?

 

[sullydnl]

Some posts from a Chelsea forum to see their take:

It’s probably the first time I’d consider selling Kante if anyone comes in with a big offer. He quite clearly have declined sadly, it feels like it is becoming less and less frequent to see him at his best.

I wouldn’t mind keeping him as a squad player and save him for big games but if someone comes in with a 60m offer, that’ll be difficult to turn down imo.

It's a dilemma with our great N'Golo because he's capable of reaching levels almost any midfielder would be envious of. But for the last few years he's only reached those levels for a limited run of games, for example in the Champions League last season. But for a league campaign you have got to the point where you can't really rely on him to 1, stay fit, and 2, be consistently at the top of his game.

And with that in mind you definitly got a decision to make when he's got a year left on his contract. He's our highest paid player with Lukaku and we pay him about £15 million every year which is a lot. Considering he's 31 now and showing signs of decline I would be vary of offering him a new long-term contract at this point. And if we don't we will need to sell him this summer so we can spend those funds on a rebuild.

If we get a big offer outside the premier league we should consider it but if Man Utd come in no chance.

The last 2-3 years we have seen his body adjust .. we have used him in different roles.. Sarri tried to make him an AM and played him to the ground .. probably also started his hamstring issues

lamps tried him in the pivot and conte was handed a generally half for Kante …

At 31 he is fairly young for a mid fielder and easily has 2-3 years left. I think we should give him an extension and let him rest in the off season and come back the monster he can be.

Personally, I think we need to keep Kante, at least for another season. There is already huge disruption, and basically a new back line. Dont think we can risk Kante also going at the same time as that.

Yes, he has made mistakes that have cost us games/results and a place in the champions league final...

...but he is still Ngolo. He is NOT one of our biggest headaches, so we should choose our battles.

I'm not saying we should sell him, but I'm finding it harder to argue with those that think we should. Trying to get Kante fit every season is hurting us. We can't get a settled midfield and constantly trying to get Kante back up to match fitness is hurting our performances and results. He's not even performing well in the big games anymore, games where he used to be the best player on the pitch even at 50% fitness.

There hasn't been a single moment all season where I would have preferred Kante over Kovacic. This isn't a knock at Kovacic, a player who I think has gone up a level in the past 2 seasons, but Kovacic at his best is still a level below Kante at his best. But the more we hold on to the hope that world class Kante will return, the longer it will take for our midfield to find any consistency.

From the perspective of the money men, you can't pay a guy nearly 300 grand a week and only get 50 odd percent playing time in return.

It’s very hard to see Kante rediscovering his best form so I think it would be wise to sell him if we get a huge offer. But if he rediscovers his form… that would be painful to watch.

I am in two minds with it. The guy is our highest paid player and is not a consistent starter. He is also going to be 32 next season and with his injuries, is it worth keeping a player on the books when we could free up those wages and spend towards other players wages and new signings? We have Gallagher who while doesn't offer the defensive security Kante does, offers same energy and better goal threat. And if we decide to buy another CM, who is younger and even better on the ball, I would not be so against it. I wouldn't say I regret any of the players we sold to United in hindsight (Mata and Matic).

If the fee was around £50m (I doubt), then I think it would be worth considering to fund for another player

If he does indeed sign with Utd, I can only give him praise for his time with us winning everything.

He likely has a year or 2 at best with his playstyle

Absolutely not, under any circumstances.

We're already short on numbers in midfield, we're already losing years of experience out of the defence, and what a horrible symbolic first move it would be for the Boehly era.

Why on earth would you sell your best player (and probably best person) to a direct rival? Especially when it would strengthen them in a position in which they are hilariously weak. Complete madness.

He’s categorically in a decline now but yes it wouldn’t be a good ‘symbolic’ move for the new era to let him go.
I’m not sure how credible the rumour to United is though as it reeks of an Ed Woodward signing and he’s long gone, in fact they’re shaking up their whole recruitment system. It’s Matic all over again and it would ultimately be a good move after his initial first season.

The Kante question shouldn't be one about quality in my opinion. We know he's quality. Although often struggles when team sit deep as so many others in our team.

The question is if we should extend a soon 32 year old and injury prone midfielder who's missed more and more games for us over the last two-three seasons. To win the league you need players you can depend on (JT wouldn't have been JT if he played 4 out of 10 games etc) and Kante is at the point where he is unreliable

.

 

[RaddyRed]

Using Kante in big games and against teams who don't park the bus (60% of the season maybe) makes sense. He played that amount of games for Chelsea last season.

If he is available for a cheap price then I would be excited by this, even if it was only a short term solution.

 

[Smithy89]

We need characters like this, would love him here.

 

[Mainoldo]

Kante: Inury prone, declining and old. Typical United
FDJ: Marquee, Expensive, doesnt want to come. Years since he was really good. Typical United.

Cant see a change tbh. Its just the same old bs. None of these players required good scouting either. Why cant we find better suited, up and coming and more motivated players ?

Big difference.

LVG: Past it
Jose: Past it
Ole: flat out shite.

So I’m sure we will be alright.

 

[justsomebloke]

He's one of my favorite players. BUT: That would be the 3rd signing of a major player aged 30 or more (plus Varane in his late 20s) in 3 summer windows. Should that be the transfer strategy for a club striving to build a contender for the coming seasons? What happened to building with young, hungry players? If it was a question of adding that one critical piece it might be different, but of course that's hardly where we are. What's the point of fixing the midfield with a player who will soon decline? And an oft-injured one at that.

 

[Lynty]

How cut price are we talking? £15m?

Would be great if he could give us 1 good season beside someone like De Jong/Neves. The top DM's aren't available to us this year, and the ones that are, a little unconvincing.

 

[justsomebloke]

How cut price are we talking? £15m?

Would be great if he could give us 1 good season beside someone like De Jong/Neves. The top DM's aren't available to us this year, and the ones that are, a little unconvincing.

I can't imagine he'd be cheap. Tuchel has stated publicly that he regards him as an essential player, so presumably the only reason they're selling him would be financial. Unless of course they know something about his health and durability that isn't common knowledge and are trying to build a market for him.

 

[Lynty]

I can't imagine he'd be cheap. Tuchel has stated publicly that he regards him as an essential player, so presumably the only reason they're selling him would be financial. Unless of course they know something about his health and durability that isn't common knowledge and are trying to build a market for him.

Oh ok. No thanks then.

I saw a tweet about it being a cut price deal as he's on last year of contract.

 

[georgipep]

I can't imagine he'd be cheap. Tuchel has stated publicly that he regards him as an essential player, so presumably the only reason they're selling him would be financial. Unless of course they know something about his health and durability that isn't common knowledge and are trying to build a market for him.

He played the 12th most minutes in the Chelsea squad. While he is essential player in ability, he isn't in availability. And Tuchel said so. There is no secret in Kante's durability, he is just getting to that stage in his career when he is very injury prone and can't play regularly. A bit like another excellent Chelsea midfielder we bought...

 

[Banana Republic]

The boat sailed on buying Kante when he went to Chelsea.
He’s on the gradual decline now.
Can still be a brilliant player on his day, but he’s just one of a roster of midfield players who can do the job, in that Chelsea side.
He would be useful to us signing on a free, but otherwise we need to move on.