LONDON -- Antonio Conte believes that N'Golo Kante was a bargain at around £30 million last summer and says the France international is the blueprint for what he wants his Chelsea players to become.
Kante is one of only four players to have featured in every minute of Chelsea's seven Premier League matches this season, and will be reunited with his former club when reigning champions Leicester City visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea were repeatedly frustrated by the valuations of other clubs when pursuing Conte's top transfer targets last summer, failing to conclude deals for Leonardo Bonucci, Kalidou Koulibaly, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku and eventually acquiring Michy Batshuayi, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso.
Kante's arrival was made more straightforward by the presence of a release clause in his Leicester City contract, and Conte admits he might have expected to pay more to sign a player of the 25-year-old's calibre.
Asked if he considered Kante a bargain, Conte replied: "Yes, I think we did a good piece of business.
"I think he's a fantastic player who can play with in a midfield three with two others, or in a two. He played in a two with Leicester last season and was very important. At Hull he played with Matic together.
"In previous games he played with Matic and Oscar or Fabregas, but I think he can play in both styles. Above all, he always plays very well."
Asked whether he wants his Chelsea team to be built around Kante's qualities of versatility and tireless running, Conte added: "Yes, yes. N'Golo is an important player for the present and the future for Chelsea.
"He has fantastic stamina and covers a lot of ground. This is very important for the balance when you play offensive football, and also to have a player who recovers the ball back very well, winning the ball. N'Golo is this type of player. He's very good."
Kante's one disappointing performance since signing for Chelsea came in a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last month; the Frenchman attracted particular criticism for being turned by Mesut Ozil in the build-up to the Gunners' third goal as he tried to win the ball back.
"Sometimes N'Golo pays for his generosity," Conte said of the incident. "In this situation he paid for it. He went late to stop the opponent, and [Ozil] turned and he passed him. But I prefer he made a mistake through generosity than another type of mistake.
"He went to go [and win the ball], not in the right time. But he went. I prefer he went than to stay and wait.
"He always shows his quality. It's logical that, during the game, you can make mistakes. But when you look at N'Golo when he plays, you can see the whole quality of this player. For me, he's very good."