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MISSING out once on signing N’Golo Kante is bad enough, to do it twice is inexcusable.
That has to be the damning verdict on Arsene Wenger as he faces an increasingly uncertain future at Arsenal.
It is hard to fathom, with all his French connections, how the Gunners boss first let the ridiculously good Kante join Leicester in the summer of 2015 from Caen for £6.5m, then Chelsea a year later for £32m.
Just over a year ago, Wenger said: “One of my best friends in life has known him since he was 10 years old. He spoke to me about him.
“We went to watch him and we saw he had quality. But I didn’t know he would come so quickly to England.”
Last month the 67-year-old admitted he did try to sign Kante last summer, but hinted he lost out due to the money the player was after.
That is typical of the economical Wenger, not being ready to pay top dollar for a player who, let’s face it, is the biggest factor in Chelsea’s runaway title charge.
Forget Diego Costa, never mind Eden Hazard, Kante is king at Stamford Bridge with his superhuman tackling skills, ground coverage and near-perfect pass completion.
So if he didn’t get Kante, who did Wenger land to boost his midfield?
Step forward Swiss international Granit Xhaka, from Borussia Monchengladbach for £35m – £3m more than Kante!
Sent off against Swansea in October, he picked up a second dismissal in the home win over Burnley in January, earning a four-match ban. He has been booked in the four games he has played since, including that 5-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday. To say he has not been a success is a massive understatement. He has admitted to friends his shock at the lack of detailed instruction from Wenger about what is required of him. And one ex-Arsenal star admitted after his departure: “I was running 13km a game but I didn’t know where I was going!” Once a visionary, Wenger now seems to be a man, or rather manager, out of time. The game has moved on but Arsenal play the same way week in, week out, adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation and never surprising opponents. But back to Kante. Could Wenger really have not pulled out all the stops to get him? Matched Chelsea’s wages and pointed out that he could still play in the Champions League, something the Blues could not offer. Aside from going for Xhaka instead, you also have to scratch your head that Wenger tried but failed to prise striker Jamie Vardy away from the Foxes for £22m. How a forward who relies so much on counter-attacking football would have survived at the pass-obsessed Gunners remains a mystery. Kante looks certain to be Player of the Year and pick up a Premier League winners’ medal at Chelsea. The best Arsenal can hope for is the FA Cup again. They play non-League Lincoln at home tomorrow in a match where not even a convincing win will take the heat off Wenger.