Everything you need to know about French phenomenon N’Golo Kante!
N’Golo Kante is a French professional football player who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea FC and the France national team. He was born on March 29, 1991, in Paris, France, and is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world, known for his tireless work ethic, tactical intelligence, and ball-winning abilities.
Kante began his football career at the age of eight, playing for the JS Suresnes youth team in the Paris suburbs. He later joined the youth academy of Boulogne, where he made his professional debut in 2012. In 2013, he signed with SM Caen, where he played for two seasons before being signed by Leicester City.
His impressive performances caught the attention of Leicester City, who signed him in 2015 for a fee of £5.6 million. Kante was an integral part of Leicester’s historic Premier League-winning campaign in the 2015-16 season. His performances for Leicester also earned him a call-up to the France national team, and he made his debut in March 2016.
Following his success with Leicester, Kante joined Chelsea in 2016 for a fee of £32 million. He quickly established himself as a key player for the club, helping them win the Premier League in his first season. Later on he would help them win their second Uefa Champions League trophy in 2021.
For France, he was an integral part of the team that won the 2018 Fifa World Cup, playing a crucial role in the midfield. Kante has made 53 appearances for France, scoring two goals. He has also participated in major international tournaments like the Uefa European Championship and the Uefa Nations League.
Kante’s story have made him an inspiration not only for any child aspiring to be a world-class athlete in France, but people across the world to believe they can achieve whatever they want to. His humility and silent nature also makes him the ideal professional whom everyone can follow.
Here are 13 fun facts about N’Golo Kante you need to know…!
Roots that go back to Mali, Africa
N’Golo Kante’s parents migrated from Mali to France in search of better opportunities.
Kante was born in Paris in 1991, where his father worked as a stonemason and his mother as a cleaner.
Kante’s parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and determination to succeed.
His name has royal origins
N’Golo Kante’s parents named him after the great Mali emperor Ngolo Diarra of the Bambara empire.
Diarra was once a slave who, after receiving his freedom, overthrew the previous regime to establish himself as the ruler of Mali and begin a dynasty that ruled from 1766 to 1861.
It’s fair to say the French midfielder has lived up to his name with a similar pivot to the top, going from the streets of Paris, to becoming one of the greatest players in football!
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Inspired by France’s 1998 World Cup victory
It was at the age of seven that Kante decided he wanted to become a professional footballer one day. Watching his nation win the 1998 World Cup was what triggered his desire to get into the sport. In particular, seeing the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, players with immigrant roots such as his own, enjoy great success for France proved crucial for making up his mind.
Thirty years later, the midfielder would himself be pivotal as France won the World Cup in 2018, thus bringing things a full circle.
Lack of success early on
While the midfielder is now a household name in the world of football, early on in his career barely any club took notice of him.
Due to his lack of height, many teams overlooked Kante, who was rejected by many academies including the likes of Rennes, Lorient, Sochaux, etc. Even the great Arsene Wenger decided against signing him when he was at JS Suresnes.
Ironically, the Gunners would try to sign him after his success with Leicester City in 2016, but would miss out to rivals Chelsea.
Almost became an accountant
N’Golo Kante almost became an accountant before making it big in football.
According to interviews with Kante, he studied accounting in college as he wasn’t sure if he would be able to make a career in football after having spent most of his time playing for Boulogne in the ninth division.
He wanted to have a backup plan and pursued accounting as it was a subject that he enjoyed and for which he felt he had a good aptitude.
However, the midfielder’s talent for football was eventually recognized, and he started playing for amateur teams before making his professional debut in France.
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Never been sent off in England
What would come as a surprise to many is the fact that N’Golo Kante has never been shown a red card in the entirety of his playing time in the Premier League.
Despite playing as a defensive midfielder, and his explosive nature to quickly win back the ball from opposition players, often through hard tackles, the 2018 World Cup winner has never left the pitch due to a punishable offence.
In fact, his general disciplinary record is superb, with the Frenchman receiving 31 yellow cards in 222 appearances for both Chelsea and Leicester City.
Not the most punctual
While the midfielder has made being at the right place at the right time his forte over the course of his playing career, his teammates from both Chelsea and Leicester City have talked about how N’Golo Kante is always late to training.
Yet even his lack of punctuality wins the hearts of people.
Former teammate Jamie Vardy explains how Kante refused to pay a fine for coming late to training as he would rather spend that money to help people in Africa.
Automotive NewsA bit of a ‘cheat’
While the midfielder is known for his humility and shy nature, he is not without his vices.
His French National teammates have accused him of cheating in card games.
When asked about the accusations levied against him, N’Golo Kante responded that he used certain ‘strategies’ to win which his colleagues deemed unfair, and while he did cheat occasionally, he wasn’t the only one to do so!
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Inspired by two former Blues
N’Golo Kante based his playing style on two compatriots who have also played for Chelsea and the France national team. The first, Claude Makelele, is someone with who the midfielder has often been compared with by both experts and fans alike. His second role model – Lassana Diarra – may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but the player has talked about how crucial the veteran midfielder was for his development.
Looking for a free meal
Another story which may surprise people comes from former teammate David Luiz.
The Brazil defender claimed that N’Golo Kante always looks to avoid paying the bill whenever he would have a meal at Luiz’s restaurant “Babbo” in London (which he co-owns with ex-Chelsea player and compatriot Willian).
Luiz states that whenever he asked him to pay his share upfront, the midfielder would use sly methods to avoid doing so…which would often result in laughter and hilarity!
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Shares a record with Cantona
After compatriot and Manchester United legend Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993, N’Golo Kanté is the only other player to have won two consecutive titles with different clubs.
The French midfielder was crucial as Leicester City shocked the world in 2016 by winning the English Premier League against all odds.
The next season he moved to Chelsea and again won the league title, helping the Blues overcome their embarrassing 10th-placed finish from the previous campaign.
No longer drives a Mini Cooper
Another anecdote of the French midfielder’s humility which is widely known, is of how he continued to drive the second-hand Mini Cooper he first got when he arrived in England.
However, in the summer of 2020, N’Golo Kante was seen driving a new Mercedes to training, finally moving on from his beloved Mini which he had since 2015.
Just wants a regular salary
Footballers and taxes don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Some of the game’s finest have been convicted by courts across the world for failing to pay the dues owed by them to the government.
Here, N’Golo Kante is an exception.
When Chelsea were in the process of signing him, they offered to pay a part of his salary from an offshore account in order to reduce the taxes on his wages. However, the two-time Premier League winner refused to do so and stated he just wanted a regular salary for his job.
Source: goal.com
