Manchester United: 4 central midfielders for Mourinho to target

N’Golo Kante

The chief argument against United, or anyone for that matter, signing Kante with a large transfer fee is that he’s only done it for one season. Unfortunately in modern football when there’s a hot commodity, someone will take that risk. A host of clubs are interested in his signature and it’d be risky to attempt to wait it out to see if he can repeat his form of last season and hope that he’s still available.

Kante was incredible last term. Hipsters whose hobbies include feeling the need to sound smarter than their friends have lauded Kante as the best player in the league last season because you can’t measure his presence in goals or assists. And because no one else was at first. They loved to pontificate why he was the best once everyone caught onto Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. Always got to be different and holier than thou.

The Frenchman was immensely important for Leicester. He shielded the back line and legitimately covered every damn inch of the pitch. It was insane.

Kante completed about 3.5 successful tackles a match and added four interceptions per game last season. He anchored the defense with Wes Morgan and Robert Huth.

At United, Kante would fit into the no. 6 role, the midfield anchor. It’d help Bailly’s transition to the Premier League as well as do his part to cloak the weaknesses at fullback that United currently have.

Kante is worth the risk. Maybe he’s a flash in the pan and will recede back to the mean next season, but he sure did look the real deal. And at 25, he’s not going to lose his pace and agility anytime soon.

Next: Toni Kroos