N’Golo Kante would have been named Chelsea captain if he remained at Stamford Bridge.
That is what journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to GiveMeSport, believes.
Reece James was appointed Chelsea captain, while N’Golo Kante left the Blues to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad in the summer.
Kante was one of the most experienced players in Chelsea’s squad, so he would have been a logical candidate for the armband.
He spent seven years at Stamford Bridge, arriving from Leicester City back in 2016, and helped the Blues to win multiple honours, including the Champions League and Premier League.
N’Golo Kante over Reece James
Had Kante stayed at Chelsea, Jones thinks he would have been made captain over James.
On the Frenchman, he said: “I see the levels that Kante is playing at at the moment for Al-Ittihad Club and if he was playing like that for Chelsea, he would be captain. He’d be the best player in their midfield and this team would be in a much different situation.”
Chelsea lacking leaders
Even though Kante is not known to be the most vocal person on the pitch, he is someone who leads by example and a footballer who others can look to.
He accomplished so much during his time in England and was such a big player for Chelsea.
After revamping their whole squad and bringing in a lot of young talent, Kante is the sort of individual Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is now lacking.
Chelsea do not have too many players who have plenty of experience at the highest level and have won big trophies.
It is one reason why they have struggled so much this season. Still, the Frenchman, who has been described as a “fantastic” footballer by his former manager Thomas Tuchel, has had a lot of injuries recently and is now in his 30s, so it is not a shock that Chelsea did not fight a bit harder to keep hold of him.
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