

N’Golo Kante’s Premier League career may only be 18 months old, but the diminutive midfielder’s impact on top-flight football in this country has been as heralded as any player new to these shores in recent times.

This is probably partly because he was relatively unknown before arriving at Leicester in the summer of 2015, and partly because of the considerable success he has enjoyed since then. No active top-flight player in this country, with 50 or more appearances, has a better win percentage.

Many of those victories came during Leicester’s sensational 2015/16 title-winning campaign. Kante played his first game back at the King Power earlier this month, having been an unused sub in the Capital One Cup fixture in September. It was an occasion to remember.

‘I spent a special season there, and met some great people, the staff, the players, the coaches, so to go back was really good,’ he tells the official Chelsea website.

‘The supporters clapped when my name was read out which was nice. I had a laugh with Ranieri before the game when he put me in a headlock! He is a good man and I learned a lot with him.

‘And then we won the game as well, so all in all it was a good day.’