Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has lauded midfielder N’Golo Kante anew, calling the Frenchman phenomenal and insisting he is good enough to play in every position.
After winning the Premier League with Leicester, Kante was snapped up by the west Londoners in 2016 and has become a permanent fixture in the Chelsea starting XI ever since.
In his first season at Stamford Bridge, Kante further staked his claim to being the world’s premier defensive midfielder as he successfully shielded the Blues defence en route to the Premier League trophy under Antonio Conte. After continuing to impress in a holding midfield role for club and country the next season, culminating in World Cup glory with France, Kante has seen a major change in his third campaign with Chelsea.
Maurizio Sarri’s arrival at the club saw the 27-year-old moved further forward in midfield and the change has since been the subject of intense scrutiny for both pundits and fans alike. Ex-Blues manager Mourinho has since dived into the debate regarding Sarri’s utilisation of Kante.
He heaped praise on the unrivaled industry of Kante in the middle of the pitch before claiming the French midfielder is good enough to play in every position. Furthermore, Mourinho believes when a club is presented with four Kantes, the manager should always consider all of them as the first names scribbled on the starting XI.
“If a manager is told that you have four Kantes, you will always find space in the team for four Kantes,” said the Portuguese manager. “He’s so good and he is tremendous in his attitude and his intensity in recovering the ball.
“He is so good that I think he can play in every position. If he plays like people used to see him in a more defensive role, he’s phenomenal in the amount of balls he recovers. I think he is phenomenal. The perfect scenario for Chelsea is three Kantes and play them all in midfield. It would be amazing.”
