Arsenal Cannot Miss Second Chance At N’Golo Kante

LONDON, ENGLAND - February 14: N'Golo Kante of Leicester City in action with Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on February 14, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - February 14: N'Golo Kante of Leicester City in action with Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on February 14, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images) /
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Arsenal had reportedly scouted a much younger N’Golo Kante but Leicester beat them to the final punch. Will there be a second chance?

Arsenal was able to take care of business against Leicester City and that made the top three a whole lot closer. Arsenal had some stalwart performers in Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil. Meanwhile, Leicester City had one main stalwart performer: N’Golo Kante.

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The 24 year old Frenchman was a menace in the middle of the pitch, completing six tackles and notching seven interceptions (stats via WhoScored). While those are incredibly impressive numbers, they are merely an indication of what Kante has been doing all year. He is averaging 4.2 tackles and interceptions per appearance.

Those are phenomenal numbers that rival Grzegorz Krychowiak, and Kante is playing in the Premier League.

Given his prowess at the position Arsenal so desperately need, thoughts have turned to what life would be like with Kante in Arsenal’s midfield. He was briefly linked to Arsenal this past January and to add a little bit of painful frustration to that, Arsene Wenger had apparently watched Kante extensively when he was a youngster.

“We went to watch him and we saw he had quality, but I didn’t know he would come so quickly to England,” Wenger said, via Sky Sports

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For all of the wonderkids and undersized French midfielders that Arsenal loads up on, we have to wonder what it was in Kante that prevented Wenger from making a move.

Kante arrived at Leicester from Caen this past summer for a measly £5.6m. That is just about the same that Arsenal paid on Mohamed Elneny. To think that we could have had Kante for an equal sum is a bit disheartening. Not because Elneny has done anything wrong but because Kante has dome so many things right. Especially when considering that he has everything Wenger could ever want in a defensive midfielder.

For starters, he is not big. He is actually rather small. But he plays with such an edge and tenacity that exemplifies his athleticism. His statistics this year are proving it. Kante will undoubtedly go down as one of the signings of the season.

To Wenger’s certain joy, Kante does not just defend. He knows how to shoot and contribute to the attack as well, as he has netted a goal and three assists this year to prove his case.

Kante is a massive opportunity missed for Arsenal. However, this does not have to be the end of his linkage to the club. It is highly unlikely that Leicester will be able to hang onto everyone when the summer rolls around and given how much Vardy and Mahrez have become fan favorites, it might be Kante that gets let go.

This is pure speculation and wishful thinking, but Kante will almost certainly move at some point in the next few years. He is going to go to a big team because he is just that good.

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If/when that opportunity arises, Arsenal have to be ready to pounce. Missing him once is painful enough. Missing him twice? Not a chance.