N'Golo Kante is not only one of the best midfielders in the world of football, with his relentless pressure and eagerness to winning the ball back, he is also the nicest and most loved footballer around. Although Chelsea isn't known to find support from neutral fans, the signing of Kante has surely helped. His modest and kind attitude towards everyone and everything has brought smiles to everyone he meets and nobody would wish anything but good things upon the French midfielder.
Below are some of the many reasons why it's impossible to not love Kante.
HE USED TO PICK UP RUBBISH.
N'Golo Kante was born in Paris to Malian parents who migrated to France from Mali in 1980. He grew up in a small apartment in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine and used to helped his father collect garbage from the streets, as a child. Kante used to walk long distances around the suburbs in the east of the city in the look out for valuable waste. Even as a young man, he showed his tremendous work rate and endurance that would go on to serve him well in his football career.
STAYING TRUE TO HIS ROOTS.
He started his football journey with JS Suresnes, an amateur club located in the west of Paris, and didn't get picked up by a professional team until he was 19 by Boulogne. His debut came late in the 2012 season on the final day of Ligue 2 and then went on to his breakthrough in the third tier the following season. Kante then spent two years at Caen and helped them to promotion and survival in Ligue 1.
In 2015, he got offered his dream big move to England to play for Premier League side Leicester City as a 24-year-old. Despite playing in one of the best leagues in the world, he continued to stay in touch with his old JS Suresnes coach, Pierre Ville.
Ville spoke highly of the midfielder in an interview and mentioned that Kante never said "no" and always kept to himself.
“When he was given instructions, he would say ‘yes’, then he would leave, but he understood things very quickly. His behaviour makes the people around him take him as a little brother.”
HE ALWAYS RUNS TO TRAINING.
Back in 2015 when Kante joined Leicester, he never bought anything extravagant nor showcased any flashy clothes or lived a lavish lifestyle but treated himself to a second hand Mini Cooper, which he, later on, mentioned he never needed.
According to The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor, ‘Kanté reckoned it was possible to run into training every day and had to be persuaded that it wasn’t usually done that way in the Premier League.’
Previously, Kante would travel to training in France with nothing but a push scooter and a backpack.
He kept his second hand Mini Cooper after his move to Chelsea.
With just only one year spent with Leicester, he made a big move to the London giant Chelsea which increased his salary massively in the process. But, despite all the success of winning the Premier League and now moving on to a much bigger club, he saw no need to upgrade his car.
In fact, after Kante tangled with a lorry en route to Stamford Bridge ahead of Chelsea's League Cup tie against Arsenal back in January 2018, he still drove it to training two days later despite having multiple noticeable dents on the front half of the car. The wing mirror was held on by gaffer tape and the front wheel arch still missing, Kante didn't see it as a reason to upgrade.
On top of just being an all-round nice guy, N'Golo Kante is one of the best players in the world and a complete joy to watch when he's controlling and dominating the midfield with his exceptional work rate and attitude.
With already a World Cup winner, Premier League winner with two different clubs, he has recently completed his trophy set with a Champions League medal. He was the man of the match in both semi-finals against Real Madrid and in the final against Manchester City.
