​Laurent Koscielny has heaped praise upon international compatriot N'Golo Kante, and has claimed that the Chelsea star is the "best player" in the Premier League.





The Arsenal defender has witnessed first hand the quality that Kante has brought to the Blues' midfield after he joined Antonio Conte's cause from Leicester City in a £30m deal last summer, and said he believes that the Gunners' London rivals are top of the league standings due to the sheer amount of work that the France international puts into each encounter.





Kante helped Leicester achieve the impossible last term by securing the league title against considerable odds and, in quotes published by the ​London Evening Standard, Koscielny admitted that there is no current Premier League star who can hold a candle to the tireless midfield man.

The centre-back said: "He's the best player in the league, simple. He has this ability to adapt. He has made tremendous progress.





"When you have a player like that in the middle [of the pitch]... He knows what he can do and not do. He does it admirably. He harasses his opponents and gives the ball to his offensive players."





Kante took a few weeks to adapt to his new surroundings as Chelsea started 2016/17 in sluggish fashion - the Blues no doubt suffering somewhat of a hangover from their astonishingly poor 2015/16 campaign when they finished in 10th place as they failed to defend their league crown in spectacular fashion.

Most tackles won in Europe since 2014/15:



N'GOLO KANTE (334)

Maxime Gonalons (272)

Idrissa Gueye (271)

Gelson Fernandes (269)#CFC — The Blues (@LondonIsBlue12) March 23, 2017

Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Chelsea back in September saw Conte and his men come under increasing pressure but, since the Italian's switch to a 3-4-3 formation after the September international break, the Londoners haven't looked back and currently lead the standings by a remarkable 10 points.





Koscielny added that Kante's ability to perform his role in Conte's new system to a tee had helped to make Chelsea a more formidable outfit, and believes his fellow France international has kicked on to another level in the past six months.





He said: "He had the aptitude to adapt in his new club, he had a difficult first month but since the loss to Arsenal, he has progressed enormously."

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