Out until March. 

3 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Out until March. 

Reckon he might have played his last match for us.

3 hours ago, ducavis said:

Reckon he might have played his last match for us.

I can just about live with that.

So long as he doesn't play his first match back with Tottenham or Man United.

Don't know how I feel about this. 

 

🚨 Chelsea making positive progress in talks over new deal for N’Golo Kante. Not done but now likely 31yo extends, amid rival interest. #CFC also expected to sign at least 1 midfielder in Jan/summer; Fernandez & Bellingham high among options @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/ll6bciQ2Kj

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) December 29, 2022

13 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Don't know how I feel about this. 

 

🚨 Chelsea making positive progress in talks over new deal for N’Golo Kante. Not done but now likely 31yo extends, amid rival interest. #CFC also expected to sign at least 1 midfielder in Jan/summer; Fernandez & Bellingham high among options @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/ll6bciQ2Kj

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) December 29, 2022

Perfectly fine if his minutes are going to be adequately managed. I still believe we can get top class performances from him if he's rested and rotated enough.

However if Potter is going to do what Lampard and bar his first half season Tuchel did and just pretend it's still 2017 then it's just going to be more frustration and probably better for us and most importantly Kante's health if we part ways.

28 minutes ago, Argo said:

Perfectly fine if his minutes are going to be adequately managed

All 45 of them?

34 minutes ago, Zeta said:

All 45 of them?

I personally don't believe it is a coincidence his only real injury free period of the last 3 and a bit years were Tuchel's first half season when he was being rotated properly.

But I guess we'll see.

39 minutes ago, Zeta said:

All 45 of them?

You're right. Time to get rid of our injury prone players. Even if they are some of our best quality stars. Should hopefully have some takers for Kante, James and Chilwell.

16 minutes ago, Argo said:

I personally don't believe it is a coincidence his only real injury free period of the last 3 and a bit years were Tuchel's first half season when he was being rotated properly.

But I guess we'll see.

You are right. If his minutes are managed better he could still be a valuable squad player. Also if we can agree on a reasonable new deal we might at least get a fee for him if does end up leaving.

4 minutes ago, just said:

You're right. Time to get rid of our injury prone players. Even if they are some of our best quality stars. Should hopefully have some takers for Kante, James and Chilwell.

He is going to be 32 in March though. The only reason he has come back to the negotiating table is because there is no interest bar Barca who love their freebies. Even then they need to see he can stay injury free.

It’s a bit pointless being a quality player getting paid £15m/yr if you are going to spend majority of the season on the treatment table. To put things in perspective since he signed the £290k/w contract in 2018, he has been out for 581 days. Can’t take Boehly’s “project” serious if he is even entertaining giving him a new contract. We say our team looks lethargic & his ageing but then turn around, keeping buying and offering older players generous contracts no one is paying. None of the teams above are carrying ageing players. You need fresh legs to press.

13 minutes ago, forbzy said:

You are right. If his minutes are managed better he could still be a valuable squad player. Also if we can agree on a reasonable new deal we might at least get a fee for him if does end up leaving.

No one is paying anything for a 32yr old injury prone Kante. We will need to pay them to take him off us.

Tbh Kante's wages should literally be cut in half. And even that is being generous. 

If he wants a 2-3 year deal that's a bit pushing it at this point in time since he has been injured a lot. If he expects to just return as if nothing happen and that a 2 year deal should be obvious...

The decent offer would be to help him out with a 1 year extension and with a smaller role cause if he slowly comes into playing again, 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there he would be reassuring himself and then other teams would also offer him a decent contract afterwards. The risk of getting injured again is just too high and I'm saying that as a fan, maybe he thinks there is no risk if he feels like he can play again but in that case I fear that Potter would be pressured to play him and everyone just saw that James got injured again after spending less than an hour in his first competitive match in 2 months.

Earlier we had reports Potter wanted to overhaul the midfield, now we are close to extending Jorgi and Kante...

Just now, axman2526 said:

Earlier we had reports Potter wanted to overhaul the midfield, now we are close to extending Jorgi and Kante...

Bohley is pushing generally for more bonus related deals so hopefully it will be a lower base with better add on’s. 

4 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Earlier we had reports Potter wanted to overhaul the midfield, now we are close to extending Jorgi and Kante...

A highly incentivized contract for Kante is a no brainer. He is still a cheat code. 

Jorgi for decent salary is also a no brainer. He is still useful. 

If Kanté can stay fit I am highly for resigning. You watch him go to another club and play injury free for the most part for another 3 seasons. At this point he's a Chelsea legend, both him and Jorginho want to stay I would rather not have a repeat of losing half our midfield like we did with our backline. Whilst  replacing them with inferior players. 

If we can get him to sign a deal that is favourable to club then why shouldn't we? Whilst managing his game time more effectively. He's still one of the most devastating players on the planet. At 31 he is far from finished, but perhaps now is the time for him and his coach to accept that maybe he can't do everything he used to do and a change in style could prove the way forward in preserving him as a player. 

It's well documented the abuse Sarri revieved from pundits for his positioning of Kanté. He believed he wasn't a dm, but rather a box to box. The only coach that played Kante as a dm in a single pivot was Lampard. Rather than play him as a dm in a single pivot maybe we could try him as dm in a double pivot alongside a box to box. 

Have him focus on protecting the back 4 with less running up and down the pitch, theoretically that lowers the demand on his body. Almost like a Makelele role he patrols the area ahead of the back 4 breaks up plays like usual but starts transitions further back and rather than having him utilise one of his most effective traits ball carrying we have him look to pass to other players who can also carry the ball forward. Just a thought but I could see that as one potential way we could minimise the stress on his body.

21 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

If Kanté can stay fit I am highly for resigning. You watch him go to another club and play injury free for the most part for another 3 seasons. At this point he's a Chelsea legend, both him and Jorginho want to stay I would rather not have a repeat of losing half our midfield like we did with our backline. Whilst  replacing them with inferior players. 

If we can get him to sign a deal that is favourable to club then why shouldn't we? Whilst managing his game time more effectively. He's still one of the most devastating players on the planet. At 31 he is far from finished, but perhaps now is the time for him and his coach to accept that maybe he can't do everything he used to do and a change in style could prove the way forward in preserving him as a player. 

It's well documented the abuse Sarri revieved from pundits for his positioning of Kanté. He believed he wasn't a dm, but rather a box to box. The only coach that played Kante as a dm in a single pivot was Lampard. Rather than play him as a dm in a single pivot maybe we could try him as dm in a double pivot alongside a box to box. 

Have him focus on protecting the back 4 with less running up and down the pitch, theoretically that lowers the demand on his body. Almost like a Makelele role he patrols the area ahead of the back 4 breaks up plays like usual but starts transitions further back and rather than having him utilise one of his most effective traits ball carrying we have him look to pass to other players who can also carry the ball forward. Just a thought but I could see that as one potential way we could minimise the stress on his body.

What top team? Real Madrid, Bayern, City, Liverpool, Utd aren't touching him. His agent would have put out feelers & seen there is no interest. We are in a unique position where 2 of our ageing midfielders are in the last few months of their contracts, there are loads of quality midfielders in the market, and 2-3 top clubs all other top teams are stacked. We renew those contracts and we stuck with a stale and stagnant midfield for the next 2-3yrs. Players like Caicedo, Zubimendi, Bennacer, Enzo Fernandez, Rice are all potentially available on the market but we should continue with legends while we have finished 19pts against the league winners in the last 2 seasons. We are already 19pts behind Arsenal halfway into the season. 
Hypothetically this is what our midfield might look like next season if we renew those contracts. Is this midfield good enough to compete for a top 4 place? 

Midfielders: Conor Gallagher* (23), Jorginho (32), N'Golo Kante (32) Mateo Kovacic (29), Ruben Loftus-Cheek* (27), Mason Mount* (23), Nkunku (26)

6 minutes ago, ducavis said:

What top team? Real Madrid, Bayern, City, Liverpool, Utd aren't touching him. His agent would have put out feelers & seen there is no interest. We are in a unique position where 2 of our ageing midfielders are in the last few months of their contracts, there are loads of quality midfielders in the market, and 2-3 top clubs all other top teams are stacked. We renew those contracts and we stuck with a stale and stagnant midfield for the next 2-3yrs. Players like Caicedo, Zubimendi, Bennacer, Enzo Fernandez, Rice are all potentially available on the market but we should continue with legends while we have finished 19pts against the league winners in the last 2 seasons. We are already 19pts behind Arsenal halfway into the season. 
Hypothetically this is what our midfield might look like next season if we renew those contracts. Is this midfield good enough to compete for a top 4 place? 

Midfielders: Conor Gallagher* (23), Jorginho (32), N'Golo Kante (32) Mateo Kovacic (29), Ruben Loftus-Cheek* (27), Mason Mount* (23), Nkunku (26)

Think the plan is to have these players as depth and to provide some experience when needed. 

 

Enzo Fernandez (21)

Caicedo (21) or Rice (23) or Koné (21) or Zubimendi (23)

Mason Mount (23)

Christopher Nkunku (25)

Mateo Kovacic (28)

N'Golo Kanté (31)

Jorginho (31)

 

 

 

Imo Kova, Kanté and Jorgi are the closest we've had in recent seasons to a championship midfield trio. Sure they're not Modric, Kross and Casemiro. Nor are they Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. Yet they did win the Europa League and UCL within 3 seasons and became club world champions (

47 minutes ago, ducavis said:

What top team? Real Madrid, Bayern, City, Liverpool, Utd aren't touching him. His agent would have put out feelers & seen there is no interest. We are in a unique position where 2 of our ageing midfielders are in the last few months of their contracts, there are loads of quality midfielders in the market, and 2-3 top clubs all other top teams are stacked. We renew those contracts and we stuck with a stale and stagnant midfield for the next 2-3yrs. Players like Caicedo, Zubimendi, Bennacer, Enzo Fernandez, Rice are all potentially available on the market but we should continue with legends while we have finished 19pts against the league winners in the last 2 seasons. We are already 19pts behind Arsenal halfway into the season. 
Hypothetically this is what our midfield might look like next season if we renew those contracts. Is this midfield good enough to compete for a top 4 place? 

Midfielders: Conor Gallagher* (23), Jorginho (32), N'Golo Kante (32) Mateo Kovacic (29), Ruben Loftus-Cheek* (27), Mason Mount* (23), Nkunku (26)

some people may not rate the title but being the reigning world champions definitely means something to every football player wo has ever tried to be the best ag their craft). Whilst reaching 5 domestic cup finals since they've been together.

They're a decent balance and are perhaps missing just one more profile in that midfield to really dominate a league. 

I wouldn't consider Nkunku as a midfielder personally he will be deployed closer to goal. Rlc needs to go imo and it will be the mediocre players that we replace with with world class talent. Having Kova, Kanté, Jorginho as rotational options with Enzo and potentially Rice is outrageous if we can pull that off.

If the owners want to renew their contracts then trust their judgement and the process clearly they know more than we do about running a world class club. With that being said they could fail to reach an agreement and both leave on a free, if hindsight is worth anything after last summer letting Rudi and Christensen go was a mistake and I'd like to think we learned our lesson. Even if we had resign those two and sold them later on for a pretty penny. You do not let the best player in the world in his position that loves your club walk out the door for free. Nor do you let an academy prospect that put in world class performances when deputising arguably the best defender in the world at the time (Silva during 21/22 ucl run) walk for free either.

That's easily £100m worth of talent we let walk out the door, we're talking about two thirds of a Uefa winning back line. Now people want to get rid of two thirds of a champions League winning midfield 🤯. Early 30s is still young in co temporary football especially for midfielders. Kante can still change his game and we can still play to Jorgi's strengths whilst minimising his weaknesses in the right setup.

Its very easy to forget just how good a fit Kante is, given his present injury woes. He has though this time had surgery in a hope of rehabilitating his problem hamstring. Been given the time to recover. Hopefully, this, coupled with good game management he will recover and there is still very much a match winning player. He is unique in his attributes and is probably the hardest to replace in the current squad. If the club and importantly the medical team are confident in his recovery, it would be madness to let him walk away on a 'free'.  His performance against Spuds this year is arguably still the best by a Chelsea player this season, His experience in the dressing room alone will still be a plus to the younger players. I'm pretty sure that come to the end of the season when British clubs can gain him on a free, there would be a number interested. Players of his ilk don't come along very often, especially on a free! Imagine seeing him with cock on his shirt next season.

3 hours ago, charierre said:

Its very easy to forget just how good a fit Kante is, given his present injury woes. He has though this time had surgery in a hope of rehabilitating his problem hamstring. Been given the time to recover. Hopefully, this, coupled with good game management he will recover and there is still very much a match winning player. He is unique in his attributes and is probably the hardest to replace in the current squad. If the club and importantly the medical team are confident in his recovery, it would be madness to let him walk away on a 'free'.  His performance against Spuds this year is arguably still the best by a Chelsea player this season, His experience in the dressing room alone will still be a plus to the younger players. I'm pretty sure that come to the end of the season when British clubs can gain him on a free, there would be a number interested. Players of his ilk don't come along very often, especially on a free! Imagine seeing him with cock on his shirt next season.

I think his main attribute has always been covering ground quickly and snuffing out danger. Playing him further up the pitch where there are less players and more ground to cover is just going to be counter productive. 

Playing him in a more deep laying role where he is shutting down the oppositions attacking midfielders will help to screen the defence and will allow a younger, more energetic box to box midfielder to push us forwards into attack.

3 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

I think his main attribute has always been covering ground quickly and snuffing out danger. Playing him further up the pitch where there are less players and more ground to cover is just going to be counter productive. 

Playing him in a more deep laying role where he is shutting down the oppositions attacking midfielders will help to screen the defence and will allow a younger, more energetic box to box midfielder to push us forwards into attack.

Problem is as a single 6 he simply doesn't have the discipline and leaves gaping holes infront of the defense and honestly even if he did (have the discipline) it's a waste of his main attributes anyway.

For me he shouldn't even be playing the games we have 65% plus possession anyway so him in a 6/8 hybrid role for big and select tough away days (and to help close games) is fine.

 

3 year deal on still high wages? Madness if true.