Kante to leave Chelsea: The state of play
FT Desk
- 30 Oct 2022 19:35 GMT
- 3 min read
N’Golo Kante is increasingly likely to leave Chelsea at the end of the season on a free transfer, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The 31-year-old has been an instrumental player for the Blues over the past few years, especially during the club’s 2021 Champions League success.
However, he is now on the wrong side of 30 and sees his contract expire at the end of the current season.
READ MORE: Barcelona would be crazy to replace Busquets with Kante
With fellow midfielder Jorginho also seeing his deal expire at the end of the season, it is widely reported that Chelsea will only renew one of these two players at most.
Kante appears to be the one who is least likely to sign a new deal due to a string of injuries over the last year or two.
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The former Leicester City star has already missed 17 games this season with a hamstring injury, while he had four different injuries last season as well as two bouts of Coronavirus.
Barcelona have been heavily linked with both Kante and Jorginho, having signed a host of free transfers in the last year or two.
This past summer, Barca bought Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on a Bosman transfer, while a year ago they brought in Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia.
Romano says there is nothing concrete with Barcelona but does admit that it is looking possible, if not probable, that Kante will leave.
What did Romano say about Kante?
“I’m told there’s still nothing advanced between him and any club,” Romano wrote in his CaughtOffside column.
“He’s happy in London but negotiations with Chelsea are not easy, so he has serious chances to leave on a free transfer.
“Barcelona are always informed about potential free agents, Kante included; but it’s not an advanced negotiation yet.”
Kante joined Chelsea after helping Leicester to win the Premier League in 2015-16.
He has made 262 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals. He has won one Premier League title, one Champions League as well as the World Cup during his time at the club.
