Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois wants N’Golo Kante, who they see him as Real Madrid’s missing link.
Real Madrid are set to raid Chelsea for the third consecutive summer. The Los Blancos have already signed Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard from the Blues over two years, and are preparing a move for N’Golo Kante in the upcoming summer.
According to The Athletic, the Frenchman was on Real Madrid’s list when he decided to quit Leicester City in 2016. However, Chelsea’s proactive approach meant that Zinedine Zidane had to stick with the Brazilian Casemiro.
The Spanish giants were possibly looking to make a move in the summer window for Kante, but Zidane’s first-choice priority was Eden Hazard. Since the Blues will not be willing to be let another star depart from the club, Zidane was forced to resist from tabling an offer.
Unlike Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante signed a new five-year contract extension last November. He has a contract until 2024, but things could change if Real offer a huge amount. The former Leicester City midfielder turns 29 in March – meaning that the Los Blancos will be cautious about the price tag.
Surrounded by young players, Frank Lampard rates the midfielder highly and knows he will play an integral part during the transition. Days after suffering an injury, Kante featured against Liverpool in the Super Cup and put in a majestic performance, but it came in a losing cause.
Zinedine Zidane is still bemused about the idea of making a move for Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante next summer. Since it takes a hefty sum to land either one of them, the Los Blancos will be conscious about the transfer.
To add more to Chelsea’s turmoil, former Blues duo Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have already remarked privately to friends that Kante is the player Madrid are missing. If Zidane asks the Belgian duo to text with his former teammate over the possibility of a transfer to Spain capital, it could unsettle the defensive midfielder.
How he reacts to this season, and how badly Madrid decide they want him, will determine just how complicated summer 2020 gets for Chelsea. But with yet another transfer approach, director Marina Granovskaia should be braced for another battle.
