Chelsea ready to sell N’Golo Kante as Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte eyes summer transfer

Published

13th July 2020

CHELSEA appear ready to sell N’Golo Kante with Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte eyeing a summer transfer.

Frank Lampard once regarded the France star, 29, has an untouchable asset.

N’Golo Kante could be sold by Chelsea with Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte waiting

But a change in tactics and a series of frustrating injuries for Kante have seen the Blues boss soften his stance on the player.

Gazzetta dello Sport now claim Chelsea are set to cash in on Kante while they can, with the player’s former boss, Conte, keen to make his move.

The pair won the Premier League together, after Kante won back-to-back titles – first with Leicester and then with Chelsea a year later.

But while Lampard may be willing to sell, he won’t be giving his midfield stalwart away cheaply.

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Kante is under contract at Chelsea until 2023 and therefore it could take a monster sum to pique the Blues’ interest.

His wages, too, could prove to be a stumbling block for any buying side, including Inter.

The Frenchman is on a whopping £290,000 a week at Stamford Bridge.

Kante has started 20 Premier League gmaes this season, including four since the restart.

But Lampard suggested he will not rely on him forever, with his persistent hamstring injuries a concern.

The Chelsea chief claimed: “We will see how we are pre-season.

“I am happy to look at managing a player like him, with the level he has reached in previous years in his career.

“That will be a very open conversation between myself and N’Golo and our strength and conditioning coach and our medical team.

“The big issue this season was that he came to pre-season injured and missed a massive part of the season.

“We tried to quickly get him fit for the Super Cup and he was incredible in his performance [against Liverpool] but he was still struggling.

“That has been a domino effect for him. It’s time to take stock in this period.

“The injury he has got now is not really related to the serious nature of the knee injury he had coming into the season.

“It’s a small injury which is probably more down to the games played and the lack of pre-season.”