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Chelsea star told he 'doesn't warrant' a new deal under Graham Potter due to two issues
CHELSEA may not be set to offer their star a new contract.
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Chelsea star N’Golo Kante has been warned he may not be set for a new contract under Graham Potter as the Blues hierarchy will have two worries regarding a new deal. The Frenchman has just one year left on his current deal at Stamford Bridge, and was not named in his new boss’ first starting lineup against RB Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday due to injury.
The 31-year-old has been out since picking up a hamstring issue in Chelsea’s second game of the season against Tottenham, and his fitness injuries are one of the problems former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has highlighted. “I think he’s [Kante] probably looking at the terms, maybe not the length,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider. “If you’re Chelsea, you’ve got a player who suffers a lot of injuries so you wouldn’t offer him the big, big money and the long contract.
“At his age and being injury prone, he misses a lot of football. When he’s fit, he’s outstanding but the amount of football he misses mean he doesn’t warrant a long-term contract, for me.”
The Athletic have claimed that contract negotiations between Chelsea and Kante have hit a snag, as the World Cup winner is holding out for a longer deal than the one currently proposed as the club have offered him two more years with the option of a third.
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Chelsea previously had a policy of only offering one-year extensions to players over the age of 30, but new co-owner Todd Boehly appears to have abandoned that protocol as he offered summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly a four-year deal when the 31-year-old joined from Napoli, while captain Cesar Azpilicueta also signed a two-year extension when he turned down interest from Barcelona to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Kante is expected to be out of action until after the international break, but with Chelsea’s game against Liverpool postponed the Blues’ next game after Salzburg is a trip to Crystal Palace on October 1. If Kante cannot agree terms on a new deal he will not be short of offers from other clubs, and he is able to speak to foreign teams regarding a pre-contractual agreement when the January window opens.
Manchester United have previously been admirers of the hard-working midfielder, but whether their £70million purchase of Casemiro from Real Madrid in the summer would affect any potential deal remains to be seen.
The Brazilian has even struggled to get into Erik ten Hag’s side due to the strong form of Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes.
Kante has also had interest from French champions Paris Saint-Germain, though they have brought in midfielders Renato Sanches, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Carlos Soler and have only been playing two in the middle of the park under new boss Christophe Galtier.