“The next N’Golo Kante” has been identified and he’s on Merseyside

N'Golo Kante wins leagues.

The midfielder played a vital, if slightly underappreciated, role during Leicester City's fairytale season last term which saw the Foxes claim an unlikely Premier League triumph. Kante's services were then acquired by Chelsea, who are currently running away with the 2016/17 campaign and it is no coincidence that the Frenchman has been in the centre of the park throughout. What we're saying is... he's decent. The interception machine who seldom puts a pass wrong continues to prove weekly how very shrewd an acquisition he was when he arrived from Caen in 2015. Kante came on the recommendation of then-Leicester scout Steve Walsh who has revealed how the manager at the time, Claudio Ranieri, required some convincing to sign the midfielder. Ranieri initially reckoned Kante was too small but trusted Walsh's recruitment acumen. It worked out. Walsh has since left Leicester and moved to a new role as Director of Football at Everton but he believes he has already discovered the next Kante. "I’ve already found him!" Walsh said in an interview with the Times. The player Walsh was referring to is Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye, who joined the Toffees from Aston Villa last summer. "He was playing with a really poor back four [at Aston Villa] and being bypassed a lot when the ball went the other way," Walsh said of the Senegal international. "But I remember thinking, 'if I get the chance... this guy is better than he’s showing.' "He’s very grounded, gets whacked, gets up, gets around people when they have the ball, very much like Kante. "I’d say his use of the ball is slightly better, even if he’s not quite as good at retrieving."