N´Golo Kanté has emerged as a target for Real Madrid. The France midfielder has been offered to the Liga giants and is being considered to provide competition for Casemiro, whose stellar season has made the Brazilian a certain starter under Zinedine Zidane.

But the arguments for snapping up Kanté are compelling. The defensive midfielder was pivotal to Leicester’s surprise Premier League title triumph and he is drawing praise from all quarters for his performances for France at the Euros, where he has nailed down a starting place in the Les Bleus side under Didier Deschamps. Madrid are said to be interested in bringing Kanté to the Bernabéu because Casemiro is Zidane’s only pure defensive midfielder and 2016-17 is going to be a taxing one for the squad, with the team involved in the league, European Supercup, Copa del Rey, Champions League and the Club World Cup in Japan in December.

The new Makélélé

Zidane has also likened Kanté to his “engine” in the original Galáctico side of the early 2000s. “I see Makélélé mirrored in Kanté when he plays.”

Another attractive part of the deal is that Kanté reportedly has a minimum release clause of 25.5 million euros, which is well within the summer budget likely to be extended to Zidane and a cheaper price than many other potential targets in the position. The addition of Kanté to the squad would also not prevent Real going after Paul Pogba. The two players are familiar with each other and compatible on the pitch.