Leicester will face ‘new N’Golo Kante’ Rodgers wanted to sign vs Rennes

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Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, right Leicester City fans? 

The whirlwind romance that blossomed between N’Golo Kante and the Foxes supporters during the most stunning Premier League triumph we’ve ever seen and will ever see remains a sepia-tinged memory that everyone connected with the King Power club holds close to their heart.

But, try as they might, Leicester have struggled to find that same love and admiration ever since Kante jilted Claudio Ranieri for Antonio Conte in the summer of 2016.

Nampalys Mendy felt like a desperate rebound. And while Wilfred Ndidi offers safety and security, he doesn’t set the heart racing quite like Kante. 

So it was no surprise, when Baptiste Santamaria opted to leave Angers two years ago, that Leicester wasted no time fluttering their eyelashes in the direction of a tireless, tenacious, ball-winning enforcer nicknamed ‘the next N’Golo Kante’ (Express). 

Would Santamaria have been Leicester’s new Kante?

“It’s time to continue my progress in a new challenge,” Santamaria said at the time. “It is the logical continuation of the things. 

“Playing for a top European club? I prepare for it every day. Inevitably, I have this ambition and this desire to continue my progress. We’ll see how it goes, but I really want to (test myself at a higher level).” 

Now, it might not be the latter stages of the Champions League. But featuring the knockout-stage of European competition would still be an important marker in Santamaria’s career. 

Back in France after one season at Bundesliga high-flyers Freiburg, the £14 million midfielder will be one of the first names on Bruno Genesio’s team sheet when Les Rouge et Noir make the trip from Brittany to Britain for the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 meeting with Leicester City on March 10^th.

Brendan Rodgers side knocked out Danish outfit Randers on Thursday night thanks to a pair of James Maddison wondergoals.

With the ‘next N’Golo Kante’ in town, don’t expect Leicester’s number ten to be afforded quite so much time and space to line up one of those trademark long-range rockets.