A quality purchase that one!

I must admit I was a bit sceptical in the beginning if Kante could keep up that form he showed in the very beginning - it was too good for someone who hasn't played for a top club before 25. Except for only a few games he was always among the best 3-4 four players. That's very impressive. He is very underrated by the general public. transfermarkt.co.uk rate him at £25.50m, which is in my opinion questionable, when at the same time they rate Fabregas at £38.25m. 

He will be staying for a long time and make some very important history for himself and the club at Chelsea, a bit like Cech or Essien. I am wondering if he could make a partnership with someone like Verratti any time soon...

Has any foreign signing ever had this much of an instant impact on the English league? Ordinarily it takes me a few games before I can properly assess a player, but after seeing Kanté's first Leicester game (playing out of position as well) I instantly knew he was something special.

If we do go on to win the Premier League, he will be the first player (since 1992 at least) to win the title with different teams in consecutive seasons. In his first two seasons. With two sides who finished 14th and 10th respectively in the seasons before he joined. What a magnificent player, a genuine marvel of modern football.

 

P.S. How the Guardian have nominated Mahrez as English football's best player of 2016 I have no idea, they must all be drunk or something.

Kante made Morgan/Huth combo look like JT/Carvalho at their prime, no owner they are back to their usual standard this season this season. The Kante deal is just pure gold.

As good as he has been this season, I feel like people are saying about Hazard, Kante's performances are either being a lot more overrated or he just seems to be quite limited. He is a small player but one who does not usually get bullied but in recent games he loses possession a lot more easily and gets bullied out easily by bigger players. Maybe it is just me but he seems to be getting caught out a lot more now. I like Kante a lot but I still feel we lack that Dembele type of player. A player in the middle who you can rely on not to lose the ball and can dribble with the ball and someone you are confident can just keep possession and play from the back. It is one of our weaknesses for sure.

Edited January 22, 20179 yr by STATS

I think he's been immense. He's doing exactly the job we bought him for. 

He was very good against Hull, had few wrong passes, but his defensive work and his running forward have been very good. 

13 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I think he's been immense. He's doing exactly the job we bought him for. 

Agreed.

Not sure where folk see him being poor, he's doing an absolute power of work in the midfield 

19 hours ago, STATS said:

 I like Kante a lot but I still feel we lack that Dembele type of player. A player in the middle who you can rely on not to lose the ball and can dribble with the ball and someone you are confident can just keep possession and play from the back. It is one of our weaknesses for sure.

While I dont agree with the rest of your post, this is spot on. A dynamic central midfielder would also help Kanté out a lot

Yep he's been far less impressive than Hazard.

22 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I think he's been immense. He's doing exactly the job we bought him for. 

 

9 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

He was very good against Hull, had few wrong passes, but his defensive work and his running forward have been very good. 

 

9 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

Agreed.

Not sure where folk see him being poor, he's doing an absolute power of work in the midfield 

I agree he has a good season overall, however look in recent matches how easily he has been bullied off the ball. Huddlestone I think it was just muscled him off the ball so easily and we lost possession and against a bigger team that could have cost us. Against Spurs he just could not get in the game because he could not compete with Dembele and Wanyama who were both dominant physically and technically. Matic always gets the blame but people seem to let Kante off all the time. I remember even against City when we won 3-1, he lost possession so easily about 2-3 times and it should have cost us but they were wasteful in front of goal.

Like I said, been impressed by him but don't think his flaws are discussed much. His passing is worrying me a bit and feel he has been losing possession a lot more recently.

Aside from his intercepting ability, eg his ability to read the game, what quality does he have which Ramires did not? Either Ramires was better than we knew or Kante isn't quite as good as we say. I think he's great really, so I think Ramires was perhaps better than he showed us. Neither are great passers, neither are great at shooting, both are fast, both have lungs made of iron, but Kante is committed to the tackles and knows he will win them. Regardless, amazing to get Kante in for 30m while letting Ramires leave for 25m. Even if I can't define it on paper, the upgrade is still incredibly obvious. It's like going from Torres to Anelka.

Edited January 23, 20179 yr by Katyusha

Kantes passing is usually pretty good from around 2 minutes onwards have a watch 

 

If he had Mikel's slickness in passing I swear he would be the best midfielder in the world.

Just gotta get on the record saying Kante is a beast. Could be one of the greatest transfers weve done lately

Coming into his absolute prime. If United paid 100m for Pogba, how much is N'golo worth?

Edited February 1, 20179 yr by TheChelseaBlues

Him and Luiz were top notch last, he is like a speedy little warrior battling it out from week to week. I was shocked we signed him after he had a chance to play in the Champions league, but our midfield was never good enough and he just made it so much better. The transfer fee now looks so small considering what 100 mill gets you 

He was hands down absolutely insane last night. Especially in the second half.

Won 14 out of 16 tackles, second best player on the field won 3. It's literally like having an extra midfielder on the field at times.

On 1/24/2017 at 06:12, Katyusha said:

Aside from his intercepting ability, eg his ability to read the game, what quality does he have which Ramires did not? Either Ramires was better than we knew or Kante isn't quite as good as we say. I think he's great really, so I think Ramires was perhaps better than he showed us. Neither are great passers, neither are great at shooting, both are fast, both have lungs made of iron, but Kante is committed to the tackles and knows he will win them. Regardless, amazing to get Kante in for 30m while letting Ramires leave for 25m. Even if I can't define it on paper, the upgrade is still incredibly obvious. It's like going from Torres to Anelka.

I would say Kante and Ramires have similar strengths (stamina, determination) and weaknesses (passing, technique), but that Kante's weaknesses are less obvious than Ramires' on the whole. This is bearing in mind that during his prime (2011-12) Ramires was actually a very good player. 

For example, while Kante's technique is not that great, it is better than Ramires' and his vision is surprisingly good. Kante is also a very good tackler, whereas Ramires became a card magnet. 

 

Kante is the closest thing we have had to top quality DM since Maka.

 

Edited February 1, 20179 yr by Chelsbear

1 minute ago, Chelsbear said:

Kante is the closest thing we have had to top quality DM since Maka.

 

 

I think that is a bit dismissive of the first 18 months of Matic (who yesterday was awfull) I think kante is eclipsing that first 1st 18 months and neither are frankly as good a Maka, but a great thing does not make a good thing bad 

Superb performance. Gave us the confidence to go forward for the win knowing he was covering. Buy of the year I'd say in the PL.

11 hours ago, Sindre said:

He was hands down absolutely insane last night. Especially in the second half.

Won 14 out of 16 tackles, second best player on the field won 3. It's literally like having an extra midfielder on the field at times.

Proving to be the best signing of 2016 in EPL. Who do you think can contend?

38 minutes ago, Tibbers said:

Proving to be the best signing of 2016 in EPL. Who do you think can contend?

Luiz? 

13 hours ago, Tibbers said:

Proving to be the best signing of 2016 in EPL. Who do you think can contend?

Sadio Mane

34 minutes ago, Paccbet said:

Sadio Mane

He's been very good no question but I don't think he's elevated the Liverpool team the same way Kante has for us.