As This Is Futbol informed you yesterday morning, Arsenal and Newcastle are going head-to-head in the race to acquire the services of Caen midfielder N’golo Kante this summer – who many have compared to former France and Chelsea stars Lassana Diarra and Claude Makelele.
The 24 year-old midfielder has been in fantastic form this season, grabbing two goals and four assists in 29 Ligue 1 appearances whilst averaging 4.9 tackles per match, the latter statistic being unrivaled throughout Europe’s five leading top flights, as recorded by Whoscored.com, with Udinese’s Allan a distant second.
He’s been valued at just £5million – which should be well within both Newcastle and Arsenal’s financial reach during the coming transfer window.
But reports from Mirror Football last night claimed yet another English suitor has emerged from the woodwork – Ronald Koeman’s Southampton.
They view Kante as a potential replacement to Kenyan international Victor Wanyama. Coincidentally, the 23 year-old has been linked with £20million move to the Emirates at the end of the season, as reported by The Metro.