Copying Kante
Chelsea’s star turn can inspire Pogba to live up to his £89m price tag at United
N’GOLO KANTE’S presence on the PFA Player of the Year shortlist alongside glamour boys Eden Hazard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez underlines that defensive midfield players are no longer dismissed as water carriers, Eric Cantona’s description of France’s World Cup-winning captain Didier Deschamps.
Kante’s appearance for Premier League leaders Chelsea at Old Trafford today will also draw comparisons with Paul Pogba, who signed for Manchester United in a world-record £89million deal three weeks after Antonio Conte nabbed Kante for a third of that price.
While Chelsea arrive in Manchester as championselect thanks largely to Kante, United sit outside the top four and Pogba has had to deal with more criticism after missing a key chance against Anderlecht on Thursday.
It was Mourinho’s dream to pair them together at United — his updated version of the great Claude Makelele-Michael Essien axis at Chelsea — but that was spoiled by Kante wanting to move to London after winning the Premier League title with Leicester.
Owen Hargreaves, the closest United have come to a Kante and part of their 2008 Champions League-winning team, trained with Pogba during the Frenchman’s first spell at Old Trafford and is convinced he will end up a major star in England.
But having suffered himself during his international career for not being the most eye-catching of players, Hargreaves is glad that Kante’s importance is being noted.
‘You have 22 players on the pitch and one ball, so not everyone can have it at their feet,’ says Hargreaves.
‘I think Kante is incredibly valuable as the best player in the world out of possession.
‘Nobody who does his job thinks of themselves. Their job is to make the team function and give it balance.
‘Kante made everybody better at Leicester and he has done that at Chelsea, too.’
Privately, Mourinho will agree with that view. Kante, now part of the French international side, was on his wishlist last summer but United realised the 26-year-old fancied a move to London.
Kante is odds-on favourite to be chosen by his peers as the PFA Player of the Year, despite the status of the other five attacking candidates; Hazard, Ibrahimovic, Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane.
If he wins, he will be the first holding midfield player to be crowned as the best since Roy Keane captained Manchester United in 2000.
Sportingly, Kante’s rival Ibrahimovic, who has scored 28 goals this season, is glad the midfielder’s contribution is being recognised.
‘A player like Kante would be good everywhere,’ said the Swede. ‘He gets a lot of credit for what he is doing. Normally, players like him don’t get the credit they deserve.
‘I remember (Blaise) Matuidi at Paris Saint-Germain. Players like them are more important than people realise.
‘Whoever wins the award deserves it. A personal prize is not something I focus on, I have other objectives.’
Mourinho will hope all the praise heading Kante’s way will fire up Pogba for a big second season.
The hype around him was immense when he returned to United, a club he originally left for Juventus in 2012.
So far, he’s not dominated games, often playing deep alongside Michael Carrick or Ander Herrera, without the insurance of a Kante alongside him to let him take off the handbrake.
Hargreaves, whose own reputation was transformed after a man-of-the-match performance for England against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup, thinks Pogba will go on to justify his reputation.
He added: ‘Pogba is very good at everything, passing, dribbling, controlling the tempo, scoring goals. The kid is not going away.’