Fate has wanted that, five years after being one of the great protagonists of the feat that meant that Leicester won the Premier, N'Golo Kanté will be measured this Saturday with his Chelsea, in the contest for the FA Cup at Wembley, at which was his team, in which he became a star that 2015-16 and from which he rose to worldwide fame. The midfielder is recovering from an Achilles tendon problem and will be able to play from the start this Saturday in the Wembley final.
Kanté has resurfaced since Thomas Tuchel became Chelsea manager. Suffice it as an example to say that the French media was MVP in the first leg and in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. But before meeting Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the final in Porto on May 29, another final awaits Kanté, that of the FA Cup, against ‘his’ Leicester.
Kanté was one of the great keys of that team that under Claudio Ranieri moved the world by achieving the Premier. The bond between player and coach was great. From Ranieri's Leicester, the French half made the leap to Chelsea and the French team, with which he was world champion.
Ranieri always remembers the first time he saw Kanté: “He kept running from one side to the other. It looked like he had an extra battery under his pants. A small motorcycle ”. When Ranieri was dismissed by Leicester, Kanté, who was already a Chelsea player (he only played for Leicester one season, that mythical 2015-16), wrote this message: “A very big thank you with great emotion to Mr. Ranieri for everything he has done: for the club, for the fans and for me ”.
Today Ranieri trains Sampdoria and, as in that Leicester, Kanté is key in this Chelsea that dreams of winning its second Champions League on May 29 and this Saturday its ninth FA Cup. For Kanté it would be the second of his career. At 30 years of age, the French world champion has two Premiers (the second, with Chelsea led by Antonio Conte), an FA Cup and a Europa League in his club record.