Leicester City defender believes Chelsea can win the title.
Yohan Benalouane of Leicester City in action with Tom Pope of Bury
Leicester City defender Yohan Benalouane has told Tuttomercatoweb he believes former teammate Ngolo Kante is worthy of his Ballon d’Or nomination.
Kante was among three of Leicester’s title winning side to make the 30 man shortlist, along with Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
While Vardy and Mahrez resisted offers to move elsewhere this summer, Kante took the chance to move to Chelsea, who finished 10th last season.
Benalouane said: “He deserved to be included in this list, he was critical for us with and I am a great fan of his dirty work. I’m sorry he went away, but we can still see each other.”
Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante scores their fourth goal
Leicester themselves have had a disappointing start to the season domestically despite having a 100 per cent Champions League record after three games.
After nine league games Leicester are in 12th place, and a more modest achievement is on the cards this time around, with a repeat of their shock title success looking unlikely.
Leicester City – Premier League Title Winners Parade
Benalouane says the target is simply to survive the drop, adding ‘Then we’ll see’, but picked out Kante’s Chelsea as the team to watch when quizzed over who he thinks could win the title.
He said: “Who wins? Let’s hope Chelsea Conte. I’d like them to, although I have no preference. I estimate Conte as a great coach. We are rather far, this year we must also think about the Champions League. We will try to defend the title, but we have to be realistic.”
Chelsea are currently in fourth place, one point off leaders Manchester City.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
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