The exodus continues. The 2018 French world champion N'Golo Kanté, at the end of his contract with Chelsea, has joined Karim Benzema at Saudi club Al-Ittihad, AFP learned Wednesday from an internal source at the club. This is another sign of Saudi Arabia's offensive in the transfer market this summer.
At the end of his contract with the Blues, the midfielder, aged 32, signed a contract "for three years", according to this source. After seven seasons with the Blues, Kante had played very little in the 2022-2023 season, only nine games, injured hamstring and groin, missing the World Cup in Qatar. His salary would be estimated at 50 million euros net per season.
End of story with the France team?
Kanté's departure to Saudi Arabia also means the more than likely end of the Frenchman's career with Les Bleus. It's hard to imagine Didier Deschamps selecting the 2018 world champion, who is highly appreciated internally, with matches played within the oil state. Unless "DD" does like Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo... But in the France team, between Tchouaméni, Rabiot, Camavinga, Fofana or Pogba if he returns to his level, there is no shortage of solutions to replace Kanté.