Barcelona prefer N’Golo Kante over Willian

Barcelona are long linked with a move for World Cup winner N’Golo Kante.

Barcelona have bid farewell to their midfielders Andres Iniesta and Paulinho. Both their men left for leagues in the south of Asia, leaving Barcelona busy in the transfer market. The Catalans are now looking to get replacements for the two departed stars and have few targets in mind.

Two of their numerous targets- Willian and N’Golo Kante call Chelsea home, even though Josep Bartomeu has attempted an approach for the former.

N’Golo Kante shined for France in the World Cup 2018 while Willian also was decent for a Brazilian team that disappointed. A latest report from Sky Sports has reported that Ernesto Valverde prefers bringing in the Frenchman into his squad over the Brazilian.

At the moment, this looks unlikely due to Maurizio Sarri’s appointment that could promise even bigger roles for the two midfielders.

Barcelona are also looking to offload Andre Gomes whether they strike a deal with Chelsea or not. Graham Hunter of Sky Sports gave a fantastic wording in a podcast about why he feels Chelsea would be wrong to let go of their star men.

“Barca are far more interested in getting Kante than Willian,” Hunter told the “Transfer Talk Podcast.”

“That is fully understandable, they have been looking for a player like him for a long time. Andres Iniesta has moved on and Sergio Busquets, without Iniesta next to him, while his brilliance remains, his pace, ability to get around the pitch tactically is very different to Kante, who is an extremely good footballer.”

“I find it hard to understand how a club like Chelsea, who are shrewd with the prices they command for their players and are starting a new era, could lose either of these exceptional assets, as well as Eden Hazard, especially at a time when a new coach is coming in and will look to those players as the lynchpins of the brand of football he wants to play.”

“Barca are fishing in a pond where it will be really tough to land the big fishes.”

Willian has been on Barcelona’s radar since the January transfer window of 2018, but Antonio Conte did allow the former Shakhtar Donetsk man to feature more often at the Stamford Bridge than he otherwise thought.

Barcelona already have a host of world class and skilled wingers who give nightmares to opponents on a good day and as Graham Hunter said, it is quite understandable as to why they prefer Kante over Willian.