Kante's Chelsea future threatened by injuries, Tuchel says
Robin Bairner
- 27 Aug 2022 08:40 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has fired a warning to midfielder N’Golo Kante suggesting that the France international finds himself in a difficult position over contract negotiations.
Kante’s deal is up at Stamford Bridge in 2023, which had led to suggestions that he could depart the club this summer. However, the 31-year-old seems ready to play the season with Chelsea.
Tuchel, though, has suggested that the World Cup winner’s long-term future still hangs in the balance because of injury issues.
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When asked if Kante’s problems might affect negotiations, he said: “Yes. You have to consider everything that is on the table.
“And on the table is his potential, on the table is his influence, and his quality. But on the table of course is his age, his salary and his injury rate, of course.
“From there you build a whole picture and try to find a solution.”
N’Golo Kante’s injury record
Kante rarely suffered injury problems until the beginning of the 2019/20 season but has since found himself on the sidelines on a regular basis since then.
In particular, he has suffered from hamstring injuries, which have regularly seen him forced to take spells on the sidelines. These were especially chronic in the 2019/20 season, when he suffered numerous such concerns.
Last season, meanwhile, it was knee issues that were his major concern. He missed six games over the course of a three-week absence in the late autumn and was also absent for France’s June international games because of such an injury.
Kante, meanwhile, has yet to play this season because of muscular problems. These issues have forced him to miss the first six games of the season. Kante has only once previously missed seven successive games, with his injury problems a headache because of their regularity rather than their severity.
