Cesc Fabregas has heaped praise on his former Chelsea teammate N’Golo Kante following the midfielder’s surprise return to the international scene.
A move to the Saudi Pro League appeared to spell the end of the 33-year-old’s France career.
Permitted the option to pick a 26-man squad for Euro 2024, however, Didier Deschamps opted to select Kante and his faith appears to have been vindicated.
Kante was outstanding in France’s opening Group D win over Austria, displaying all the battling qualities and tactical intelligence that characterised his trophy-laden seven-year stint in the Premier League.
Fabregas was one of the chief beneficiaries of Kante’s unselfish style during their time together at Stamford Bridge and the pair dovetailed superbly during the Blues’ last title-wining season.
The former Spain international, however, revealed Kante’s best quality was not his ability to win back possession or his seemingly never-ending energy reserves.
‘He’s a fantastic,’ Fabregas told the BBC ahead of France’s eagerly anticipated matches against Netherlands.
‘I will always come short of good things to say about N’Golo. I mean what a player.
‘When he first came to Chelsea after winning the league with Leicester, tactically he was good but we saw him more as a corrector.
‘But the most important thing and most speical thing about him is the will to learn and the capacity to do it very fast and apply it on the pitch.’
Analysing Kante’s performance against Austria Fabregas observed: ‘This is typical N’Golo, recovering the ball and for me he improved a lot at this.
‘He shows how intelligent he is, recovering the ball and always playing forward one touch.
‘This gives you the change to get into transition very, very quickly. Other players take one too many touches and lose the moment.
This (running back to catch an opposition player), there is not one player in the world who can do that so well and so many times to save their team.
‘He is a diamond to have in the dressing room, really.’
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