Chelsea fear out-of-contract ace could end up signing for Arsenal or Conte

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Arsenal and Tottenham want N’Golo Kante and Chelsea are seemingly worrying that he may end up joining one of the club’s London rivals.

You would be forgiven for thinking that Kante may be a fading force.

The Frenchman has been known as one of the top midfielders of his generation, seemingly everywhere across the pitch thanks to his outstanding ability to cover ground.

Yet now 31, injuries are starting to take hold of Kante.

21 Premier League starts for Kante last season wasn’t ideal and he hasn’t started more than 25 Premier League games in a season since the 2018-19 campaign.

Arsenal and Tottenham want N’Golo Kante

Alarm bells are ringing with Kante missing so many games in recent seasons and those concerns aren’t exactly disappearing now.

Kante has just been ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury, meaning he will miss the World Cup and won’t play again in 2022.

This comes at a terrible time with Kante essentially fighting for a new contract with Chelsea.

Kante is out of contract at the end of the season and there has been no movement on a new deal.

There have though been rumours linking Kante with a shock move elsewhere.

Foot Mercato reported earlier this month that Arsenal and Tottenham are both interested in signing Kante on a free transfer.

Kante is understood to be keen on staying in London, so Arsenal and Tottenham seemingly have a real chance of a deal.

90Min now claim that Chelsea really don’t want to see Kante join Arsenal or Tottenham and are now factoring that possibility into discussions about a new deal.

Chelsea are understood to be divided on a new deal for Kante given his age and wages, with his injuries surely not helping his cause.

The Blues are now in a tough spot; do they try and keep Kante out of the gasp of Arsenal or Tottenham, or do they let him go and move on whilst risking coming up against him down the line?

If we had to predict a decision, we would guess that Kante will indeed be on the move in 2023 – but committing money to injury-prone players just doesn’t sound like something Arsenal or Tottenham should be doing.