N'Golo Kante turns thirty: 5 years at Chelsea -152 EPL apps, 12,869 minutes, 4 major titles

We look back at Kante's 5 years as a blue to mark his 30th Birthday

71% of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by Chelsea midfielder, N’Golo Kante.

This is an undisputed ‘fact’… go ahead, check Google…

If Kante went caving, they wouldn’t need to take any head torches, his smile would light up the cave.

Is there a better image in football than one of N’Golo Kante smiling? No, is the answer.

What a player, and what a guy. He is the most humble man in football, and easily the most-loved player in the world, even by opposition fans.

He is so appreciative of what he does for a living, and he just loves the beautiful game. Kante doesn’t need the finer things in life, the flash cars and celebrity lifestyle. Nope, he is just content with being alive, having a roof over his head, and being around his loved ones.

In fact, when Kante first joined Chelsea in 2016 despite arriving as a fresh Premier League champions with Leicester City, he insisted on continuing to drive his Mini Cooper, rather than being tempted to spend out on a brand new Mercedes or BMW, just like the rest of his team mates.

Can you imagine how out of place that would have looked in the Cobham car park? But Kante didn’t need it, he just wanted to reliably get from A to B.

Another interesting ‘fact’ about Kante, and this one might not be as ‘true’…. But, rumours have it he is actually half man, half machine.

I have NEVER seen a match engine like his; the stamina, the speed, and the energy he has is unrivalled. He can run forever, literally.

You ever seen the film Forest Gump? About the guy who just kept running and running? That’s Kante on the pitch.

There is not even a debate that at this moment in time, that the French world cup winner IS Chelsea’s only world class player.

Monday marked his 30th Birthday (which is basically his 22nd Birthday the way he plays and moves around the pitch). A great time to have a quick look back on his 5 years at our club.

He of course won the Premier League title with us in 2017 on his first season at the club, and he was a pinnacle part of that.

The year after he won the World Cup with France and the FA Cup with Chelsea in the same season.

Then came the Europa League Cup the following season, and Chelsea now just need to get him the Champions League trophy, what a story that would be. He fully deserves it.

Leicester took a real risk signing Kante from Caen in 2015, being largely unproven. But hats off to Leicester’s scouts, they have a real eye for talent, and for finding talent at good prices.

They paid little over £5 million for the midfielder, who joined Chelsea a year later for just over £30 million. BOTH clubs got an absolute bargain.

Kante has since been a mainstay in the Chelsea team and he has now played 12,869 minutes in the Premier League for us, getting 152 appearances.

In his last 5 years for Chelsea he has been rated 7.23, 7.25, 6.93, 6.90, and 6.93 by Who Scored, which shows an impressive consistency.

As he reached his late 20s, Kante has started to suffer with more niggling injuries, which is a concern.

However, even with that you cannot doubt just how indispensable Kante still is for Chelsea and has been for the last 5 years. How on earth do you even try and replace such a player?

If Chelsea and Kante can manage his game time and his injuries, then they could easily get another quality 5 years from him.

But he will soon be coming to the crossroads of his Chelsea career, having just two years left on his current deal, with decisions to make on both sides.

Written by Simon Phillips (@siphillipssport)