Chelsea's
N'Golo Kante is the Sky Bet favourite to be named PFA Player of the Year
when the award is announced on Sunday.
The former Leicester midfielder has shone for Antonio Conte's side this
season, bidding to become only the second player in Premier League history
to win the title with different clubs in successive seasons after Mark
Schwarzer last year.
Kante faces competition from Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard as well as Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane and Alexis Sanchez for the prize, but
here's why he would be a deserving winner.
Rising to the challenge
How many players can claim to be the Premier League's signing of the season
for two years running? N'Golo Kante took English football by storm after his
£5.6m transfer from Caen to Leicester last summer, and even at £32m, his
move to Chelsea already looks like similar value for money.
Kante has been outstanding but it was by no means a given that he would
excel at Stamford Bridge. Leicester's system was built to suit Kante, but at
Chelsea he had to adapt to a different formation and style. Chelsea average
54 per cent possession to Leicester's 42 per cent. Antonio Conte is a very
different task-master to Claudio Ranieri.
Kante, though, has risen to the challenge, redefining what we expect from a
modern midfielder in the process. Conte's switch to 3-4-3 has been lauded
for how it has liberated Hazard and given Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses the
freedom of the flanks, but it's Kante who has held it all together. He
looked right at home in his new surroundings from the start.
"He came into the country and did it for Leicester and then he kicked on
again," said Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith recently. "He's not relaxed and
had a breather. It's been a seamless transition to a bigger club with higher
expectations and he's taken to it like a duck to water. He has some
temperament."
All-round excellence
Kante excelled as a midfield destroyer for Leicester last season, shielding
the back four brilliantly and making more tackles and interceptions than any
other player in the Premier League. He has not made as many this season in a
team who tend to dominate the ball, but his defensive qualities are still
there and the rest of his game has improved.
Kante's passing accuracy has jumped from 81.6 per cent to 88.8 per cent,
making him Chelsea's most efficient player with the ball at his feet. Even
in the opposition half, his passing accuracy stands at 87.7 per cent. Of
Premier League players to have played more than 1000 minutes this season,
only four have a higher success rate.
"He has great stamina, great quality and we are working to improve that
quality," said Conte last month. It's fair to say the hard work has paid
off. Kante took Leicester to new heights but he's better than ever now.
Driving force
Kante is a complete midfielder but his defining quality is undoubtedly his
remarkable stamina. The Frenchman has been the driving force behind
Chelsea's title charge, covering every blade of grass with the same tireless
dedication he became known for at Leicester.
The Premier League tracking data proves it. Kante has covered more ground
than any other Chelsea player this season, running the equivalent of eight
marathons since the start of the season. Across the whole of the Premier
League, only Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tottenham's Christian Eriksen
have run further.
His extraordinary energy has allowed him to make more ball recoveries than
any other outfield player this season. In Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Liverpool
in February, he made 14 tackles - the most by any player in a single game
all season. "When you watch him in games he's infectious," said Sky Sports
pundit Gary Neville earlier this month. "He's all over the pitch."
His attacking team-mates tend to take the plaudits for scoring the goals,
but Chelsea wouldn't be where they are without Kante in the engine room.
Consistency is key
While the other players on the shortlist have endured below-par performances
or periods of poor form, Kante has been remarkably consistent. Even in
Sunday's defeat to Manchester United, when he was not his usual self, he
still completed over 90 per cent of his passes and made more tackles and
interceptions than anyone else on the pitch.
Indeed, Conte has been forced to find room for improvement in the tiniest
details. After a man-of-the-match display against West Ham last month, in
which Kante only misplaced five passes out of 50, Conte joked: "He made five
mistakes. He has to improve in this. I am joking. But I have to find one
situation to tell him to improve."
Chelsea can expect Kante's consistency to continue in the remaining weeks of
the season, but he has already done enough to be named PFA Player of the
Year. It would be a fitting tribute to a remarkable campaign.
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