N'Golo Kanté
 Kanté after training with Caen in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 29 March 1991[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Leicester City | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2010 | JS Suresnes | ||
| 2010–2011 | Boulogne | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2011–2013 | Boulogne | 38 | (3) |
| 2013–2015 | Caen | 75 | (4) |
| 2015– | Leicester City | 35 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2016– | France | 2 | (1) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2016. | |||
N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City and the France national team, as a central midfielder.
He made his senior debut at Boulogne and then spent two seasons at Caen, the latter in Ligue 1. In 2015, he signed for Leicester City for a fee of €8 million, winning the Premier League in his first season. Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016.
Club career
Boulogne
Born in Paris, Kanté began his career at Suresnes before moving to US Boulogne. He made his professional debut in the last game of the Ligue 2 season on 18 May 2012, a 1–2 home defeat for his already relegated team to A.S. Monaco, replacing Virgile Reset for the final 11 minutes.[2]
During the 2012–13 season, he played in the third-tier Championnat National, missing only one league game. On 10 August, he scored his first senior goal, the only one in a win over US Luzenac at the Stade de la Libération,[3] and he added two more over the campaign.
Caen
In 2013 he joined Ligue 2 side SM Caen and played all 38 games in his first season as they came third in Ligue 2, earning them promotion to Ligue 1. In his second game on 9 August, he scored his first goal to equalise in a 2–1 win at Stade Lavallois;[4] he levelled again with his other goal of the campaign on 11 April 2014, in a 3–2 win at FC Istres.[5]
The following season, Kanté played 37 games as Caen remained in the top flight; his one absence was suspension through being sent off in a 0–1 home loss to Stade Rennais F.C. on 30 August.[6] Three weeks earlier, he scored their first goal of the season in a 3–0 win at Evian Thonon Gaillard F.C..[7]
Leicester City
Kanté was scouted for Premier League club Leicester City by Steve Walsh, who had previously facilitated the transfers of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez to the team.[8] On 3 August 2015, he joined Leicester on a four-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be €8 million (£5.6 million).[9][10] He made his debut five days later by replacing Jamie Vardy for the final eight minutes of a 4–2 home win over Sunderland and scored his first Premier League goal against Watford in a 2–1 win at the King Power Stadium on 7 November.[11]
He earned much praise and many plaudits for his consistently impressive displays for Leicester City, and is widely considered to be a main factor in the club's excellent form in the 2015–16 season, consistently making a high number of tackles and interceptions.[12][13] In April, having made a season-record 149 tackles, he was one of four Leicester players named in the PFA Team of the Year.[14]
International career
On 17 March 2016, Kanté was selected to the France senior squad for the first time to face the Netherlands and Russia in friendlies.[15]
He made his debut against the Netherlands on the 25 March 2016, replacing Lassana Diarra at half time in a 3–2 win at the Amsterdam Arena.[16] Four days later he made his first start on his 25th birthday, and scored to open a 4–2 win over Russia at the Stade de France; fellow birthday celebrant Dimitri Payet also scored.[17]
Style of play
After his first senior goal, French regional newspaper La Voix du Nord likened Kanté to Claude Makélélé in his early days at FC Nantes. After asking the player if he considered Makélélé his role model, Kanté instead said that his was Lassana Diarra.[3]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Boulogne | 2011–12 | Ligue 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | CN | 37 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 4 | |
| Total | 38 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4 | ||
| Caen | 2013–14 | Ligue 2 | 38 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 3 |
| 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | |
| Total | 75 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 82 | 6 | ||
| Leicester City | 2015–16 | Premier League | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Career total | 148 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 160 | 11 | ||
International
- As of match played 29 March 2016.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2016 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 2 | 1 | |
International goals
- Scores and results list France's goal tally first.[20]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 March 2016 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Russia | | | Friendly |
Honours
Club
- Leicester City
Individual
References
- 1 2 "Premier League Player Profile N'Golo Kanté". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ↑ "US Boulogne vs. Monaco - 18 May 2012 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- 1 2 "Ngolo Kanté fait souffler un vent de fraîcheur sur Boulogne" [N'Golo Kanté blows a wind of freshness on Boulogne]. La Voix du Nord (in French). 12 August 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ "Stade Lavallois : À Caen la victoire !" [Stade Lavallois: Victory to Caen!] (in French). La Mayenne, on adore !. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ "Le SM Caen remonte sur le podium de la Ligue 2" [SM Caen get back on the podium in Ligue 2] (in French). France 3. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ "Malherbe pas récompensé de ses efforts" [Malherbe not rewarded for their efforts]. Liberté (in French). 30 August 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ "Evian-Caen (0-3)" (in French). Goal.com. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ Percy, John (17 January 2016). "Arsenal raid Leicester for highly-rated scout who helped sign Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ↑ "Leicester City: N'Golo Kante signs from Caen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ↑ "Leicester sign N'Golo Kante from Caen but Charles Aranguiz not keen". ESPN FC. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ↑ "Leicester City: Leicester beat Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ↑ "Jamie Carragher: Leicester's N'Golo Kante has impressed me more than Arsenal's Petr Cech". Daily Express. 1 January 2016.
- ↑ Hafez, Shamoon (23 January 2016). "Leicester 3-0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
- ↑ "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- ↑ "Equipe de France : Ngolo Kanté et Dimitri Payet appelés par Didier Deschamps" [French Squad: Ngolo Kanté and Dimitri Payet called up by Didier Deschamps]. L'EQUIPE (in French). 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- ↑ Sharpe, James (25 March 2016). "Leicester City NEWS: N'Golo Kante makes France debut in win over Holland as Johan Cruyff remembered". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ↑ "Birthday boys N'Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet help France to victory". Eurosport. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ↑ "N. KANTÉ". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ↑ "N'Golo Kante". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ↑ "N'Golo Kanté profile". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ↑ "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to N'Golo Kanté. |
- France profile at FFF
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