Chelsea Steal March On Arsenal After Holding Talks With £20m Midfielder

The opening of the summer transfer window is fast approaching so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea steal a march on Arsenal….

Chelsea have stolen a march on Arsenal after holding extensive talks with N’Golo Kante over a potential £20m move from Leicester City this summer, according to the Sun.

Kante joined Leicester from Caen last summer and enjoyed a sensational debut season in England with his high energy displays in the middle of the park playing a key role in guiding the Foxes to a shock Premier League title win.

The French international’s impressive performances saw him named in the PFA Team of the Season and understandably he’s attracting interest from some of Europe’s most powerful clubs with Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain among those credited with interest.

The Ligue 1 champions are reportedly keen to lure Kante to France this summer but the Sun indicates the midfielder would prefer to remain in the Premier League leaving Arsenal and Chelsea to battle-it-out.

Arsenal have long been linked with Kante and despite recently signing Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, the Sun claims that Arsene Wenger is still determined to land the 25-year-old as part of a £40m double swoop on Leicester that would also see striker Jamie Vardy head to the Emirates.

However, it looks as though Chelsea have stolen a march on their London rivals as the newspaper suggests that Blues officials have met with Kante’s camp on several occasions to discuss a potential move to Stamford Bridge.

Incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is expected to be busy this summer reshaping the squad with a new central midfielder understood to be high on his priority list and the Sun claim the Italian tactician has turned his attention to Kante after a move for Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan stalled.

Leicester are obviously keen to keep hold of the French international but the report says he has a £20m buyout clause written in to his contract so there is very little the Foxes can do to prevent him leaving if the likes of Chelsea or Arsenal meet that figure.

£20m for a player of Kante’s quality in today’s market would represent something of a bargain and I think he’d be a superb signing for which ever club manages to win the race for his signature this summer.

Arsenal’s on-going interest is curious as they already have an abundance of midfielders to choose from with Xhaka joining to compete with Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and January signing  Mohamed Elneny for a starting spot. So if Wenger is still after Kante, I think we’ll see one of his current crop leave over the coming weeks.

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However, for now it looks as though Chelsea are in pole position to secure the midfielders signature but they may want to try and get a deal rushed through before the start of Euro 2016 as a strong performance in France would only further increase the competition for his signature.