N’Golo Kante suffered a frightening health scare ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League defeat to Manchester City as he fainted at the club’s training ground.

Telegraph Sport understands shocked team-mates were terrified Kante had suffered a heart problem when he momentarily passed out in front of them after training last Friday – just two days before Chelsea were due to face City.

Even though Kante was not found to have any heart issue and travelled with the rest of the squad to the Etihad, the scare was brought into sharp focus, as head coach Antonio Conte, his staff and the Chelsea players then learned of the tragic death of Davide Astori on the morning of the City game.

A Chelsea doctor arrived on the scene within seconds after Kante slumped to one side in the dressing room at the club’s Cobham training ground after Friday’s session.