N'Golo Kante: Why Chelsea midfielder won PFA Player of the Year
The unassuming Frenchman has become the first defensive midfielder to win the award since Roy Keane in 2000
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has been named PFA Player of the Year, becoming the first non-forward to win the award for more than a decade.
In recent seasons attacking players have dominated and the last winner who was not a striker, winger or attacking midfielder was defender John Terry in 2004.
Kante, who moved to Chelsea from Leicester for £32m at the end of last season, is the first midfield enforcer to win the accolade since Roy Keane in 2000.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So how did the 26-year-old beat Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez to the accolade?
"Kante has played a key role in Chelsea's surge to the top of the league this season and is renowned as a tireless box-to-box competitor who helps break up opposition attacks and initiate them for his own side," says The Guardian. "He will become the first player to achieve the distinction of winning successive Premier League titles with two different clubs if Chelsea can hold off Tottenham in this season's championship race."
The midfielder is "unassuming" off the field but "a force" on it, says the London Evening Standard. And the statistics prove it.
"Kante's energy is second to none and he has dominated many a midfield battle, making a total of 110 tackles," says the paper. That is the second highest figure in the Premier League.
"The midfielder has made 72 interceptions - more than any other Chelsea player - while his passing tally stands at an impressive 1,899."
Recognition is overdue, says Tom Adams of Eurosport. Football remains a sport that is decided by goals and which values attack over defence but "there is no harm in occasionally celebrating other qualities which are needed to win matches, the qualities Kante embodies, the selfless hard work which gives others the platform to shine".
On top of that Kante is a humble and modest character - he drives a Mini not a Ferrari - and there was no mistaking the warmth of the reaction when he was handed the award.
Before his coronation Daniel Taylor of The Guardian recounted a story that neatly sums the Frenchman up.
"A lot is made of the fact Kante prefers to drive a Mini rather than operating with the fleet of dream machines that other members of his profession consider essential. But it turns out that when Kante first arrived in Leicester he was not even sure he needed any wheels. Kante, the story goes, reckoned it was possible to run into training every day and had to be persuaded that it wasn't usually done that way in the Premier League."
N'Golo Kante favourite to win PFA Player of the Year award
13 April
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante is favourite to lift the PFA Player of the Year award after the six-man shortlist was announced.
Kante is the only defensive minded player on the list, which also features his Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal, Romelu Lukaku of Everton, Man Utd striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Harry Kane of Spurs.
Kane and Lukaku also feature on the Young Player of the Year shortlist along with Dele Alli, also of Spurs, Michael Keane of Burnley, Sunderland's Jordan Pickford and Leroy Sane of Manchester City.
"Kante, who was shortlisted last year for his part in Leicester's remarkable season but did not make the top three, is the bookmakers' favourite for the 2016-17 accolade, with the winners to be announced at Grosvenor House in London on Sunday, 23 April," says The Times.
Hazard won the award in 2015, the last time Chelsea won the title. He and Kante are the standout candidates for the award, says Martin Keown of the Daily Mail.
"Kante is now the benchmark for central midfielders," he adds. "He is like an extra player in the way he makes sure his team are not outnumbered in every area of the pitch."
He continues that Hazard can count himself "unlucky" as he is "getting close" to the level of players such as Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Bale and Neymar. "He is the Premier League's nearest thing to those players."
Man City's Lucy Bronze "leads the contenders" for the Women's PFA Player of the Year award, says Sky Sports. Teammates Jane Ross and Jill Scott are also on the shortlist, along with Karen Carney of Chelsea, Birmingham City's Ellen White and Liverpool's Caroline Weir.
Weir is also nominated for the Women's Young Player of the Year, battling Millie Bright of Chelsea, Jess Carter of Birmingham and the Man City trio of Nikita Parris, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
The Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
By The Week UK Published
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeys
Cartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Can England's Euros team hold their nerve?
Today's Big Question Three Lions' 'lopsided' opening win over Serbia raises more questions than it answers
By The Week UK Published
-
The Premier League's spending cap: levelling the playing field?
Talking Point Top clubs oppose plans to link spending to income of lowest-earning club, but rule could prevent success gap from widening
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is a new English football regulator an own goal for the game?
Talking Point PM hails 'historic moment for football fans' but West Ham owner warns it could 'ruin' Premier League
By The Week UK Published
-
2023-2024 Premier League predictions: champions, relegation and golden boot
feature A look at the top flight talking points and pundit picks for the new season
By Mike Starling Published
-
Man City: can ‘one of the best sides in history’ win the treble?
feature Guardiola’s Premier League champions have two more trophies in their sights
By The Week Staff Published
-
Premier League: Man City vs. Arsenal predictions
feature What the pundits say about tonight’s title race showdown at the Etihad
By Mike Starling Last updated
-
Antonio Conte leaves Tottenham after ‘extraordinary’ rant at players
feature After another year without a trophy, Spurs are now searching for a new manager
By The Week Staff Published
-
‘Captain fantastic’: Harry Kane’s most memorable England goals
feature Kane has overtaken Wayne Rooney as the Three Lions’s all-time leading goalscorer
By Mike Starling Published