Cesc Fabregas has delivered his verdict after watching former Chelsea teammate N’Golo Kante play for France again at Euro 2024.
Remarkably, N’Golo Kante has returned to the French squad for this summer’s major international tournament.
The 33-year-old Al-Ittihad midfielder return to the France national side this month for the first time since 2022, but that’s not prevented him from playing every minute of his team’s two group stage matches at the Euros so far.
Kante was exceptional during France’s 1-0 win over Austria on Monday.
The former Chelsea star started again on Friday night during France’s goalless draw with the Netherlands.
Cesc Fabregas reaction to former Chelsea favourite
Cesc Fabregas said that Kante was “without a doubt” the best player on the pitch during France’s 0-0 stalemate with the Dutch.
“He was absolutely everywhere. You see him on the right wing, you see him recovering balls as the last man,” Fabregas commented on Kante via BBC One’s coverage of Netherlands vs France (10:03pm, 21 June).
“What I like about him is, look, he plays forward and he keeps moving. Pass and go. Pass and go. Lot of movement, good mobility, and a lot of quality. I mean, the way he has improved in football, always playing forward, once again, for me, he was superb and Man of the Match without a doubt.
When asked what Kante is like in training, Fabregas added: “He takes it quite easy (in training), I have to say, but then, what can you say? He recovered so many balls. I think he is one of these players when Saturday comes, Sunday comes, he steps up big time.”
N’Golo Kante display vs Netherlands
It was yet another eye-catching performance from Kante at the Euros tournament, this time producing serious bits of quality on and off the ball against a strong opposition.
FotMob data as recorded the match statistics from Kante’s display against the Netherlands.
- Match rating – 7.5
- Minutes played – 90
- Successful dribbles – 1/1 (100%)
- Accurate passes – 57/64 (89%)
- Chances created – 3
- Passes into final third – 12
- Recoveries – 4
- Blocks – 1
- Ground duels won – 3/5 (60%)
It’s going to be a long time before Chelsea get to enjoy a player that’s quite of Kante’s level. Even at the age of 33 after a year in Saudi Arabia, he still looks like an elite midfielder.
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