Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante should win the PFA Player of the Year award this season, Thierry Henry believes.
Kante won the Premier League title with Leicester City last season in what was his first campaign in England, and he looks set to win the title once again but with the west London outfit.
The Frenchman joined the Blues for £32 million in the summer and has immediately transformed them from their mid-table finish last season to champions-elect and Henry thinks the impact he’s had on the team from midfield warrants winning the PFA Player of the Year award.
“I see no reason why he shouldn’t be PFA Player of the Year at the end of the season,” he said, via Goal. “It’s around now that the voting slips start to drop on the doormats of pros and there are loads of worthy candidates this time.
“Zlatan Ibrahimovic is banging them in for fun — at 35. Alexis Sanchez is chipping in with goals and assists, Romelu Lukaku went into the weekend top of the scoring charts with 16.
“Then there’s Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, Harry Kane and Dele Alli at Spurs and Kevin de Bruyne at City, who have had great seasons. Usually your Kante-type player goes relatively unnoticed. They are only missed when they’re not there. But Kante is so special, you do notice him.
“He’s so good he must say to himself: ‘N’Golo, you go and I’ll cover!’ It’s an art to sense danger, to tackle, to intercept. Kante had two blinding games in a week against Liverpool and Arsenal. If he starts scoring and improving his final ball, phew!
“Then you would have your two holding midfielders and your No.10 rolled into one. People pay to see Hazard score crazy goals but it’s not just about that, it’s about what N’Golo does too. Why not hand him the trophy?”
Kante was arguably the most unsung hero of Leicester’s team last season as it took until the final few weeks to truly notice the impact he’d had on Claudio Ranieri’s side.
If anyone needed anymore convincing about his ability, the Foxes are currently struggling in a relegation battle without him, while he’s set to win his second straight league title.
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