You knew that the Leicester City Premier League title, the greatest upset in the history of sports, would inevitably lead to the English giants targeting their star players. Either the big boys will poach the Foxes’ brightest stars, or Leicester will have to give them all a big salary increase in order to retain them.
Arsenal triggered Jamie Vardy‘s release clause, but they didn’t end up landing him when all was said and done. The Gunners also targeted Vardy’s teammate, Riyad Mahrez, the reigning PFA Player of the Year, reportedly, and N’Golo Kante.
However, it’s not Arsenal who landed Kante, but their London rivals Chelsea. The Blues confirmed the news Saturday, via their official Twitter account, and Kante has said his goodbyes to the Leicester City fans, via his Twitter feed:
— N'Golo Kanté (@nglkante) July 17, 2016
It's official! Welcome to Chelsea, N'Golo Kante! https://t.co/BRg1Njs5PB #WelcomeKante pic.twitter.com/1gqqQvFPiK
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 16, 2016
It was just Thursday that new Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte said he views Leicester as an inspirational example for his team. In making this move he’s taking that ideal from the metaphorical arena to the literal/practical.
The Telegraph is another publication that has been on top of this story from the get go.
Four days ago they published an article that went detailed how Chelsea moved quickly to formalize their interest in Kante, acting less than 24 hours after his French team was upset by Portugal in the Euro final. N’Golo Kante is a huge splash signing for Chelsea this summer transfer window; and nicely complements striker Michy Batshuyai.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition.
He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram