Pochettino really wanted to work with ‘special’ Chelsea player, but he’s left now

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Mauricio Pochettino has plenty of talent to work with at Chelsea, although he was particularly keen on coaching N’Golo Kante.

That is according to The Athletic.

So, what has been written about N’Golo Kante and Mauricio Pochettino in full? Let’s take a look…

What’s the story?

Well – as you may have heard – the France international has now joined Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ittihad after his contract at Stamford Bridge expired.

That decision may have upset Pochettino.

The Athletic believe the Argentine aspired to sign Kante during his time in charge of PSG – but to no avail – and was certainly keen on working with him at Chelsea.

Todd Boehly offered the Frenchman a new contract and the chance to extend his seven-year stay at Stamford Bridge, although the 32-year-old opted to reject the deal.

It sees Chelsea lose a “special” player – according to Frank Lampard – although Kante’s exit is probably for the best.

Time for Chelsea to find the new Kante

In our view, keeping an injury prone 32-year-old, who was earning a whopping £290,000-a-week on his contract at Chelsea, would not have made much sense.

The Paris-born terrier could only manage nine appearances in all competitions last season, as years of giving 100% in every game started to catch up with him.

There is no guarantee that Kante would have been fit enough to become a key man under Pochettino – regardless of the South American’s obvious admiration for the tireless midfielder.

Instead, going all out to sign someone like Moises Caicedo – a player who is 11 years younger – is the more sensible choice, as the Ecuadorian represents the future.

It is always hard to say goodbye to fan favourites, especially someone as universally adored as Kante, although in this instance, we feel it is for the best that he rejected Chelsea’s contract offer.