Arsene Wenger admits he twice failed to sign N’Golo Kante – the man he credits with turning Chelsea into title favourites

ARSENE WENGER admits he has twice failed to sign N’Golo Kante – the man he says has turned Chelsea into title favourites.

Arsenal boss Wenger says he made two attempts to sign the French international midfielder, but on both occasions he came up short.

Reuters

And though he refused to reveal too much detail about the failed bids, Wenger left everyone in no doubt the reason Kante is not playing for Arsenal is down to money.

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Asked if he had ever tried to sign the brilliant midfielder, Wenger said: “When he was in France, when he was at Leicester.

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“We cannot explain everything, but it is quite obvious when you look at where he has gone.

“I do not want to talk more about that. Transfers are transfers.”

Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge nine points adrift of Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title.
And Wenger is in no doubt one of the biggest reasons why Antonio Conte’s side are in such a good position is because of the one man – Kante.

He added: "N’Golo Kante has made a huge impact in that team, it is not a coincidence they are in the position they are and Leicester were in that position last year.

"Maybe that defeat to us was a wake-up call, they have changed things in the right way, they have benefited by not being in Europe.

"That has given Conte time to prepare and to get to know better the players.

"The integration of Kante has had a huge impact."