“He is one of the most influential…I’ve seen play football” – Arsene Wenger praises Chelsea star during World Cup punditry

France opened their World Cup campaign with a solid win over Australia, and despite N’Golo Kante not scoring or registering an assist in any of the two goals his country scored, Arsene Wenger took time to praise him.

Kante was instrumental in how France played against the Socceros and was one of Les Bleus best players. He broke down attacks by their opponents and was also very confident and decisive going forward.

It was Kante’s pass that led to Antoine Greizmann’s penalty after he took possession off the Australians and handed the ball almost immediately to Paul Pogba who released Greizmann, to draw the foul in the box.

Several other telling contributions did not fly under the radar and Wenger took it all in. Asked after the game what his thoughts of Kante were the former Arsenal manager said the Chelsea star is one of the ‘most influential’ he has seen in football, and that is a staggering statement considering how many quality midfielders Wenger has worked with or identified as targets for Arsenal.

“He is one of the most influential midfielders I’ve seen play football. He constantly makes simple decisions and never overcomplicates it. Have I looked to sign Kanté? Yes. When he was in France and when he was at Leicester.

I cannot explain everything [about why he preferred Chelsea] but it is quite obvious when you look at where he has gone. Was it the money? I do not want to talk about that. Transfers are transfers – you cannot explain absolutely everything.”

Arsene Wenger, Daily Express

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