Football
Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent 7y

Antonio Conte admits N'Golo Kante is a 'stronger' player than he was

LONDON -- Antonio Conte admits that N'Golo Kante is already a better midfielder than he was as a player at Juventus, but insists that the France international still has room to improve on certain aspects of his game.

Kante has been a transformative presence at the heart of Chelsea's midfield since Conte's decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation in late September, and looks increasingly likely to become the first player since Eric Cantona to win consecutive English top flight league titles with different clubs.

A similarly combative midfielder during his illustrious 19-year playing career with Lecce and Juventus, Conte believes Kante has already surpassed the level he once reached on the pitch -- though the Chelsea head coach is adamant that the 25-year-old can get even better.

"I like a lot these type of players," Conte said of Kante. "I was this type of player [myself].

"I always appreciated this type of player, with great generosity, great ability to work for the team. I think it's important to have this type of player if we want to win.

"Not only great talent, but players who run a lot during a game."

Asked if Kante is the same as he was during his playing career, Conte replied: "No, he's stronger than me. I think I was stronger than him to score goals but, in the other aspects [of being a midfielder], there is no contest. He is stronger than me."

Kante's remarkable energy levels came to wider attention last season as he helped propel Leicester City to a miraculous Premier League title triumph, and former manager Claudio Ranieri once joked that he had to tell the Frenchman to stop running around so much in training.

Asked if he has done the same this season, Conte added: "No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to stop him. Also because, in my career, I remember [Giovanni] Trapattoni tried to stop me [running] during training, telling me to go into the changing room because I had to run during the game.

"I wasn't happy about this. I wanted to stay with my teammates. He's a great player and he always puts 100 percent in the game, but also in training.

"He has always a smile on his face. It's fantastic, this. You try to talk with him and he's always smiling. During training sessions he works a lot, but always with a smile.

"N'Golo is a fantastic guy, fantastic player, great commitment, great behaviour. A great example."

One area of Kante's game that Conte is confident can still be refined, however, is his contribution in the final third; the 25-year-old has registered just two goals and four assists in 63 Premier League appearances with Leicester City and Chelsea.

"My own work is always to try and improve my players, and I want to improve my players through work," Conte continued. "To work very hard to try and improve them. We are talking about great players.

"He played very well in the past, last season, with Leicester. He's playing very well also this season with us. We are working on some aspects to try and improve him, to make him a more complete player. But we are talking about a great player already.

"I think he has a lot of room to improve in the pass, and to look for the first pass forward. He can improve on these aspects."

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