Why N’Golo Kante links likely have no legs

Add as preferred source on Google

The transfer window is in full swing, which means Manchester United are linked with players every single day of the week.

On Thursday, the Mirror reported United could be interested in Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante ‘if he is made available for a good price’ after slipping down the Stamford Bridge pecking order last season.

It just doesn’t feel plausible

We all know how good Kante can be; he’s a World Cup winner with two Premier League titles under his belt.

Of course, he clinched that global glory out in Russia in 2018 alongside Paul Pogba at the heart of midfield.

That Mirror article is largely centred around potentially rekindling that relationship at club level.

But the links just don’t feel credible.

£30 million (BBC) man Kante is 29 now, and injury problems restricted him to just 22 Premier League appearances in 2019/20.

Chelsea are so unlikely to sell direct to a rival club.

The only way they’d even contemplate it is if Kante’s injuries wrote him off as a top level player to the same extent as Bastian Schweinsteiger’s did before he joined United.

But Kante isn’t at that stage of his career yet.

Can’t get excited about this one

This writer’s view is that Kante would be an upgrade on Nemanja Matic.

But that’s purely hypothetical right now, for the reasons outlined above.

Moreover, Matic recently signed a contract extension, so Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is unlikely to even try and sign another aging holding player, who is earning over £140,000-a-week at Chelsea as per Spotrac.

There’s a whole host of reasons why, unlike the player himself, these Kante to United rumours likely have no legs.

• The six worst Manchester United transfer windows ever, including one under Sir Alex Ferguson
• What Tynan Thompson’s Manchester United transfer means for academy wonderkid Noah Ajayi
• Alex Scott’s contract standoff should not prompt Man Utd mega-bid, Bryan Robson agrees
• Tynan Thompson is already being fast-tracked by Man Utd, Michael Carrick clearly rates him highly
• Marcus Rashford will have a new Man United role involving Tynan Thompson when he returns