France and Chelsea midfielder, N’Golo Kante has left the national team after sustaining a knee problem. Kante won’t be part of the French team competing in the UEFA Nations League competition.
This isn’t the first time he’s been out due to a medical condition, he had a 2021/22 season full of injuries. The Chelsea hitman managed to have just 26 appearances in the Premier League which was mainly because of his bad fitness issues.
Although he played France’s first game in the Nations League against Denmark, Kante hasn’t played in the other two matches and had to finally leave the squad to seek medical attention.
This means he won’t be part of the squad that will play against Croatia on Monday night. He is expected to get back to fitness before or during the pre-season games ahead of the 2022/23 season.
The French national team released a statement to announce the departure of N’Golo Kante from the squad last weekend.
The statement reads: “Bothered by knee pain, N’Golo Kante left the group this Saturday morning. The Chelsea midfielder would not have been able to play Monday against Croatia at the Stade de France.
“Defender Lucas Hernandez must also leave the group in the evening to join his partner who is waiting for a happy event. “Twenty-two players are therefore now available to the national coach, Didier Deschamps.”
Kante has been a very important player to both Chelsea and France since his breakout season with Leicester City. He helped Chelsea to win the Premier League title in the first season he joined them.
The Frenchman was also instrumental in France’s triumph at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Towards the end of the 2021-2022 season, Thomas Tuchel could not help but praise Kante. He said; “I think he is our key, key, key player, but key, key, key players need to be on the pitch and he plays only 40 percent of the games.
“It’s maybe a miracle that we arrive in third place [in the Premier League] because he is our Mo Salah. He is our [Virgil] van Dijk. He is our [Kevin] De Bruyne.
“He is simply that player. He is our Neymar, he is our Kylian Mbappe. He is our guy who makes the difference. If you only have him 40 percent of the time, it’s a huge problem. Given that percentage, it’s maybe a miracle how consistently we produce results.
“It puts everything in perspective because I saw Liverpool last season without Van Dijk and they struggled heavily. You see the difference. N’Golo is our key player and he needs to be on the pitch.”
