N’golo Kante is arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world currently and probably the nicest who comes from a humble beginning.

But aside the aforementioned, did you know that the World Cup and UEFA Champions League Winner used to wander the streets of Paris cleaning up dirt and looking for valuable waste with his dad?

Here are the hidden but interesting part about Chelsea’s midfield dynamo, N’golo Kante.
His Idols

N'golo Kante: Unknown Things About The Latest UCL Winner

Given his position, you’d think Kante’s childhood idols were some defensive midfield generals, central Midfielders with long of steels and high football IQ. Guys like Claude Makelele or Lassana Diara.

Basically, players he often has been compared to. But even though he loves Diara, Kante is a huge fan of Ronaldo, the Brazilian.



“Ronaldo, the Brazilian. I would put on DVDs of his goals on the computer and watch that”



“We would watch the videos of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and we tried to reproduce the same thing on the pitch.”

“They’re players who I really like; along with Maradona.” – N’golo Kante, 2021.

READ MORE: 2020-2021 Season: Nigerian Players That Won Laurels For Their Clubsides In Europe

Marseille

N'golo Kante: Unknown Things About The Latest UCL Winner

Having won the world cup title, Two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one Europa League and now the UEFA Champions League, it’s obvious that Kante’s career has been glorious.

That’s a massive accomplishment for a player who didn’t play topflight football until 2014. But in another dimension, he could be said to be playing in France.



Because back in 2015 while playing for Caen, he already had more than a few offers on the table and he was able to consider one of the eventually.



“Among the club who wanted to recruit me were Leicester and Marseille. I thought I had to go through a stage in France.”

“I remember the generations of Frank Ribery, Samir Nasri and Mamadou Niang and it was a team I liked, especially in the Champions League.” – N’golo Kante, TheSun, 2017.

Thomas Tuchel also wanted to sign him for PSG but Kante wasn’t interested.

“I knew in the past that there was some offers from Paris Saint-Germain when he (Tuchel) was the manager, but I was not interested.”

“It didn’t happen and I was happy at Chelsea and I stayed there.” – N’golo Kante, chelseafc.com, 2021.

He’s working wonders for Tuchel at the Bridge after all.

Kante Is Malian Too



N’golo Kante may have won the world cup for the French national team but he never thought he’d even play for them.

During his one and only season with Leicester, Kante had serious doubt about his ability to suit up for Les Blues.

So he confided in his assistant coach Steve Walsh.

“I want to play for Mali because my parents are from Mali.” – The SundayTimes, 2017.

But he forgot about it and decided to play for France instead. The decision he took having consulted Steve Walsh who told Kante he’d get into any team even if there’s a World XI.



And rightly so, two years after, Kante made the FIFPro XI and won the World Cup.

He Escaped Tax Evasion

N'golo Kante: Unknown Things About The Latest UCL Winner
N’golo Kante: Unknown Things About The Latest UCL Winner
A list players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and more have been accused of tax evasion but only one name would have to be excluded from that list, N’golo Kante.

When he signed for Chelsea, the club wanted to pay 10% of his salary to an offshore account which would help lower the amount of income taxpay.

Well, given the juicy manner in which it appeared, almost every footballer would’ve simply said yes. But Kante said “No, thank you.”

Kante in his inflexible self outrightly rejected the offer and noted that the setup proposed to him could be questioned by the tax authorities.

When the story later broke, Journalists asked his French teammate Blaise Matuidi what he felt about Kante’s position and he gave a swift response.


“I’m not surprised. He just being N’golo. Everything’s perfect, he’s not a cheater, except a little in card games.” Matuidi said.

Meanwhile, Kante responded in an epic manner. “I’m not a cheat at card games. I’m a competitor and those who lose like to give others a bad rap.”

READ MORE: https://sportyleagues.com/ngolo-kante-unknown-things-about-the-latest-ucl-winner/

Great player