N’Golo Kante chose to pursue a transfer to Chelsea after becoming frustrated with Arsenal’s reluctance to follow up their interest with a formal bid, according to Squawka.
Kante joined Chelsea from Leicester on Saturday in a £29m deal and has signed a five-year contract worth £100,000 a week.
The France midfielder moved to the Blues amid interest from a host of leading clubs this summer including Arsenal, Manchester United and Juventus.
The Gunners had initially appeared favourites to sign Kante after his exceptional performances in Leicester’s historic Premier League title triumph last season.
The north London club had declared their interest in the 25-year-old before the end of the season, and manager Arsene Wenger spoke publicly about his admiration for the all-action midfielder.
“I admire and like N’Golo Kante a lot. He gives you ideas,” Wenger told beIN Sports in June. “He gives you the feeling that the higher the level he plays at, the more at ease he is.
“We are talking about numbers. He has the most interceptions in Europe and by far. He has incredible quality. He feels the game, only very few people can do that. He’s always where he needs to be.
“It is very rare to have that in the central midfielder. Not always orthodox, but always in the right place.”
Ahead of Euro 2016, Kante believed he would end up at Arsenal, with the club privately claiming they were ready to exercise the £20m release clause in his Leicester contract.
Kante believed that his proposed arrival would be in addition to another central midfielder in Granit Xhaka, who moved to the Emirates Stadium in May in a £35m transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Yet Arsenal failed to follow up with any formal contact with Leicester, leading Kante to eventually conclude that Wenger was getting cold feet.
One of the complications might have been that the terms of the release clause meant that, in reality, Leicester were only compelled to accept the highest bid above the £20m, which is why they eventually negotiated with Chelsea following bids from the Chinese Super League.
Wenger is known for his careful approach in the transfer market and already boasts several central midfielder options including Xhaka, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla.
COMMENTS