N'Golo Kante
N'Golo Kante
Kanté wins PFA Player of the Year Award!
N'Golo Kanté has been named PFA Player of the Year. Kante won the award for his amazing performances for Chelsea this season. Kante is close to winning the Premier League title for the second consecutive season. The French midfielder is also close to winning the League and Cup double with Chelsea. On Saturday, Kante helped his team beat Spurs 4-2 in the FA Cup semi-final. Two goals from Willian and one each from Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic gave The Blues victory and a place in the FA Cup Final. They will play Arsenal in the Final, who beat Manchester City 2-1, after extra-time, in the other semi-final. If Chelsea and N'Golo Kante play at the same level as they have for most of this season, the Gunners will have to play really well to beat them.
So proud for such a honour! So amazing. As I always said, it's a team work: thx to my teammates, @ChelseaFC members and all the fans. pic.twitter.com/4tQXf1ROXH
— N'Golo Kanté (@nglkante) April 23, 2017
Who was N'Golo Kanté up against?
N'Golo Kanté was up against some strong competition for this year's PFA Player of the Year award. In total, there were six nominees. The other nominees were N'Golo's Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard, Manchester Utd's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Everton's Romelu Lukaku, Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and Tottenham's Harry Kane. The PFA award is very important for players because it is voted for by other football players. Each player at the 92 professional clubs that comprise the four divisions of football in England and Wales plus the 8 clubs in the Women's Super League gets one vote each. The only rule is that they can't vote for a player at their own club. There are also PFA awards for the Young Player of the Year and the Women's Player of the Year. These awards were won by Tottenham's Dele Alli and Manchester City's Lucy Bronze.
He's the one you can't replace. If Eden Hazard wasn't there you could put Willian in. He's the best midfielder in the Premier League, if not Europe.
Danny Murphy, a football pundit for the BBC.
What do we know about N'Golo Kante?
N'Golo Kante was born in March 1991, in Paris, the capital of France. Kanté's parents were both born in Mali. He started his football development with J.S Surenses, which is a small sports club in the Paris region. He had lots of problems finding a professional club because he was very small and no club wanted to take a risk on him. Eventually, he signed for his first professional club - Boulogne, who were playing in the French second division. His debut wasn't a totally happy one, it was on the final day of the 2011/12 season, when Boulogne were already relegated to the third division. The following season, Kanté became a regular in Boulogne's first-team and a transfer to Caen followed in the summer of 2013. Kanté and Caen were promoted to the first division in 2013/14 season and Kanté became an important part of the midfield for the Ligue 1 team. In the summer of 2015, Kanté made the short trip from France to England.
What has Kante won in the Premier League?
In the summer of 2015, Leicester City paid Caen £5.6 million to bring the midfielder to the Premier League. This could be the best bit of business a Premier League club has ever done. Kante was simply brilliant as Leicester City shocked the football world by winning the Premier League title. Along with Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, Kanté helped change Leicester from a team fighting against relegation to a team fighting for the title. He made more interceptions than any Premier League player (156) and gave Leicester real bite in midfield. Kante was named in the PFA team of the season for 2015/16. Following his success at Leicester, Kante decided to make a move to Chelsea and it looks like the move was the right one with Chelsea close to winning the Premier League again and Kante being named PFA Player of the Year.
How does it feel to be the PFA Player of the Year?
Watch the video with N'Golo Kante and practise your listening skills. What questions does the interviewer ask and what are N'Golo Kante's answers? Write your answers in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
How does it feel to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, N'Golo? #PFAawards pic.twitter.com/lDngXOEQfu
— PFA (@PFA) April 23, 2017
Quiz
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What do you think?
N'Golo Kante has been named the PFA Player of the Year. Do you agree with the PFA's choice? Would you have chosen a different player?
Listen to the video with N'Golo Kante. What questions is he asked? What are his answers?
What question would you like to ask N'Golo Kante or another Premier League player?
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Comments
11/09/2022
points
Kanté is one of my favourite players in Premier league.Although being midfielder he is always in front of opponent's box to shoot. I would ask him how he motivated himself though struggled with many difficulties till Premier League.
11/09/2022 16:19
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
Kanté is one of my favourite players in Premier league.Although being midfielder he is always in front of opponent's box to shoot. I would ask him how he motivated himself though struggled with many difficulties till Premier League.
17/08/2020
points
i have to say that kante is a quality player
17/08/2020 02:21
Manchester City
207
i have to say that kante is a quality player
07/08/2020
points
I agree with this award for Kante.
The question I would like to ask Kante is: Which is the best player you have faced?
07/08/2020 02:27
Manchester United
496
I agree with this award for Kante.
The question I would like to ask Kante is: Which is the best player you have faced?
29/06/2020
points
I totally agree with the PFA choice because Kante is a unique player that can make the difference and he is very consistent.
29/06/2020 00:25
Manchester United
6539
I totally agree with the PFA choice because Kante is a unique player that can make the difference and he is very consistent.
16/11/2019
points
how was the premier league journey.. ?
16/11/2019 22:16
Everton
18
how was the premier league journey.. ?
06/02/2019
points
Easy GG.
06/02/2019 13:23
Manchester United
823
Easy GG.
13/12/2018
points
i think happy for kante
13/12/2018 12:57
Manchester United
229
i think happy for kante
02/11/2018
points
eko tekan
02/11/2018 12:22
Liverpool
137
eko tekan
21/11/2017
points
I would like Ibrahimovic beat Kante. :)
21/11/2017 13:27
Manchester United
180
I would like Ibrahimovic beat Kante. :)
06/07/2017
points
I would like to ask Kante,Why did you leave Leicester while you were having a great time.
06/07/2017 12:12
Liverpool
3705
I would like to ask Kante,Why did you leave Leicester while you were having a great time.
06/07/2017
points
Yes i do,he deserves it as well as Chelsea deserved to win the title.If i would choose another player i would like to choose sanchez.
06/07/2017 12:08
Liverpool
3705
Yes i do,he deserves it as well as Chelsea deserved to win the title.If i would choose another player i would like to choose sanchez.
26/04/2017
points
Correct me
Kante is amazing player. He deserved this award!
It is so honour to see his play at my favorite club. He is a perfect footballer and wonderful person. I hope that he will stay for a long time in Chelsea.
26/04/2017 11:50
Chelsea
241
Correct me
Kante is amazing player. He deserved this award!
It is so honour to see his play at my favorite club. He is a perfect footballer and wonderful person. I hope that he will stay for a long time in Chelsea.
30/04/2017
points
My humble corrections, Emil : Kante is an amazing player. It is such an honour to see him play at (for) my favourite club.
"honor" and "favorite" are spelt in the US English.
"his" is also possible though, but in this case "play" would be a noun. After "him" "play" is a verb.
30/04/2017 18:28
Liverpool
6578
My humble corrections, Emil : Kante is an amazing player. It is such an honour to see him play at (for) my favourite club.
"honor" and "favorite" are spelt in the US English.
"his" is also possible though, but in this case "play" would be a noun. After "him" "play" is a verb.
01/05/2017
points
Hi Emil and Alex
I think (as you pointed out, Alex) the most important explanation is how we use 'such' and 'so'. Such is followed by a noun and so is followed by an adjective. In this case, 'honour' is a noun so we should say 'such an honour'.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
01/05/2017 10:42
Liverpool
594
Hi Emil and Alex
I think (as you pointed out, Alex) the most important explanation is how we use 'such' and 'so'. Such is followed by a noun and so is followed by an adjective. In this case, 'honour' is a noun so we should say 'such an honour'.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
26/04/2017
points
I would have loved Eden Hazard to have won the award even though deserves it too.
26/04/2017 08:25
Manchester United
4779
I would have loved Eden Hazard to have won the award even though deserves it too.
25/04/2017
points
N'Golo Kante is the best this year although the Premier League title is still on play.
What the award means. How did Kante move so smoothly from Leicester to Chelsea. Does Chelsea manager help the player in his new team. Is players Union useful? What Kante feels winning two consecutive Championships?
I would like asking Kante how difficult it is to learn English.
25/04/2017 17:40
Manchester City
3988
N'Golo Kante is the best this year although the Premier League title is still on play.
What the award means. How did Kante move so smoothly from Leicester to Chelsea. Does Chelsea manager help the player in his new team. Is players Union useful? What Kante feels winning two consecutive Championships?
I would like asking Kante how difficult it is to learn English.