N’Golo Kante is “easily the best central midfielder in the world”, according to Chelsea great Gus Poyet.

Kante has not been short of praise since his arrival at Leicester in the summer of 2015. After starring in their shock title triumph he repeated the trick a year later with Chelsea, where he won major individual awards at the end of the season.

His importance was only highlighted over the last month when he was sidelined with a hamstring injury as Chelsea fell to damaging defeats against Crystal Palace and Roma. For Poyet it is no surprise that the Blues laboured without their midfield dynamo.

“They missed him a lot, you could see how much the minute he came back,” Poyet told Standard Sport. “He’s easily the best central midfielder in the world. Easily. He would play in a World XI, no doubt. I know there are players like Casemiro, Sergio Busquets but he’s better than them.

“He knows the game, when to stay, when to run and how to run well. He reads it so well he knows what is going to happen before he gets there. That way he controls it with his incredible power and finesse. Normally players like that aren’t as good on the ball as Kante is.

“It’s incredible that he went to Leicester and nobody saw him until they won the league! You do what you do, managers do what they do but how didn’t any scouts see him?”

With and without Kante Chelsea have so far struggled to hit the heights of last season’s title triumph and find themselves nine points off league leaders Manchester City with only 11 games played.

Conte is far from the only Chelsea manager whose side have slumped after a title win.

“Winning the title, it’s a virus,” Poyet added. “After you win it the next year something goes wrong for Mourinho, Ancelotti and Conte. It’s tough and when you’re champions everyone wants to kill you.

“For Chelsea it was a very strange summer, a mess inside the club. The Costa situation was tough and so was replacing him. The new players need time to adapt and prove themselves.

“Last year, with all respect to the squad players, the team was made [he lists off last season’s title-winning side]. This year you make one team, I make one team, he makes one team, Conte makes another team. That consistency is why they won the league… not just of selection but formation and style of play.”

Gus Poyet has made the Big Call with online betting site BetStars. He is backing a 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Tottenham. #Callit at https://www.betstars.uk/en-gb/news/football/the-big-call-gus-poyet.shtml