Wayne Rooney has made a bold claim about N’Golo Kante ahead of the Chelsea player’s participation in this summer’s Euro 2020.
Kante was outstanding again for Chelsea this campaign, playing a major role as Thomas Tuchel and his team secured a Champions League title.
The Champions League triumph is yet another stripe on the sleeve of Kante, who has also won two Premier League trophies, Europa League and the World Cup to date.
And as he links up with France in a bid to win his first European Championship, Kante has been dubbed the ‘best midfielder in the world’ by Wayne Rooney.
“France have perhaps the ultimate team player in Kante. In the Champions League final, he gave the perfect performance,” Rooney told The Times.
“He does everything: breaks up play but then plays in tight areas and starts off the attack.
“You used to see it with Yaya Toure, how he would get the ball and burst forward with it and it is so hard to defend against. Kante does all that but also protects his defence like Claude Makelele once did – only better.’
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“It’s unbelievable to have a footballer who is Toure and Makelele rolled into one — and then there’s Kante’s energy. At Chelsea, you see his energy bringing a lot out of the other players.”
He added: “Whenever Kante bursts forward you’ll see two or three of them bursting forward too, not worried about leaving their positions because if the ball is turned over they know he’s going to get back in shape and break up the counter-attack.
“For me, he is the best midfielder in the world.”
Rooney also said France are in the best position to win the Euros, saying: “Mbappe, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, Hugo Lloris: you look at their quality, experience and track record as world champions and realise that if their players turn up, they will win the tournament, no problem.”
