N’Golo Kanté is a French professional footballer born on 29 March 1991 who plays for the France National Team.
Chronologically, he has played for the following clubs – US Boulogne B, US Boulogne, SM Caen and Leicester City. Currently Kante is playing for Chelsea FC.
1) Kante’s Childhood – He has worked as a trash picker
Kante grew up in a small flat in Rueil Malmaison, a small and densely populated suburban area to Paris. This was an area known to have the best of people going menial jobs for the big city.
Kante was born in a Muslim family and has worked as a trash picker during his childhood. As a trash picker & grabber, he would walk for kilometers around the suburbs of eastern Paris looking for all sort of valuable waste to collect and deliver to small recycling firms for quick cash.
N’Golo Kante lost his dad at the tender age of 11. Being the eldest of four siblings Kante had the sense of responsibility from a very young age.
Kante with his mom.
His dad’s death left his mother with the saddling burden of parenting.
Meet N’Golo Kante’s ever smiling family 👏🏿😌😃 pic.twitter.com/TCMgd0fD4z
— Kawowo Sports (@kawowosports) July 19, 2018
2) Kante wears the same numbered Jersey as one of his favorite players
N’Golo Kante wears the No.7 shirt for Chelsea. The defensive midfielder took up the squad number Ramires vacated following his move to Jiangsu Suning.
In the Premier League era, the likes of Adrian Mutu, loanee Maniche and Andriy Schevchenko have all donned No.7 while playing for the club.
Didier Deschamps, also a defensive midfielder during his playing days, wore the No.7 during his one season at Stamford Bridge and Kante now occupies the same position and number as the France head coach.
3) He decided to be a footballer at the age of 8
After the France 98 world cup, Kante saw a different France, A France of opportunities. He saw a country whose football glory came mostly from migrants.
Back then as a 7 years old boy who got used to menial jobs around Paris around suburbs, Kante already used to seeing and hearing big names of the FIFA 1998 world cup shortly after turning 8 aspired to take football as a career having noticed the opportunities close to his home.
4) Kante’s Lifestyle [Cars]
N’Golo Kante may have signed a £290,000-a-week five-year contract to become Chelsea’s highest-paid player but it almost certainly hasn’t gone to his head.
The loveable Frenchman is humble as ever and that is reflected in the car he drives – Kante still rocks up to training in a Mini Cooper S because that’s his preference.
According to story the 27-year-old had to be persuaded to buy a car when he first moved to England because he thought he would just run to training everyday.
Kante also owns Mercedes Benz-GLS which is worth $70,545
5) He tries to get away without paying at Luiz’s and Willian’s London restaurant
The two-time Premier League is not shy when it comes to claiming a free meal according to his Chelsea teammates.
Brazilian duo Willian and David Luiz own Italian restaurant Babbo in Mayfair and claim Kante always tries to get a free meal.
Speaking to Chelsea TV, Luiz said: “They love it because normally they come here and they don’t want to pay. Especially N’Golo.”
With Willian commenting: “If you ask N’Golo, ‘pay’, he does like that… ‘Yeah? I have to pay? Oh no! You and David you’re good, you have a good heart.’”
It’s good to know that Kante is a little flawed in a way!
6) Kante’s relationships – Has a girlfriend or wife?
Kante is said to be a very private person and despite contrasting reports, it was known that Kante is yet to get married.
Despite his fame, N’Golo has not talked about his personal life. Currently, focusing on football career goal is everything for Kante.
7) He wanted to become an accountant if football did not work out
The star midfielder revealed insights into his teenage. He said that if he would not have made it in big in football, he would have become an accountant. “When I was 18, I got my baccalaureate [the French A-Level equivalent]. And after that, I did two more years of study in accountancy.”
Kante kept his career options open in his youth days due to his future’s uncertainty. He said, “I wasn’t professional, so I kept studying because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make a living as a footballer. But when I went up to the first team, I became professional, so I stopped studying.”
We can know for certain that any firm that would have had him would have had an extremely hard working employee at their disposal.
8) Kante has a song which proves how much he is valued by the French national team
Following victory in the World Cup final over Croatia last summer, the France squad serenaded the Chelsea midfielder in a way to show appreciation for his efforts in helping them to emulate the 1998 team.
The chant created by the French players caught fire over the summer and it probably had something to do with the fact it contained lyrics which highlight how he stopped Lionel Messi in the round of 16 clash against Argentina.
For those of you who don’t know the words just yet, here’s the lyrics in English:
“N’Golo Kante,
“Pala Lalala,
“He’s short, he’s nice,
“He stopped Leo Messi,
“But we all know he’s a cheater,
“N’Golo Kante
N’Golo Kante Chant – https://youtu.be/hiYzWKkaODg
9) N’golo Kante’s Net Worth is $15 Millions
N’Golo Kante is a top-earning sportsman. So, He is estimated to be enjoying the net worth of $15 million. Currently, he signed a deal with club Chelsea where he will receive an annual salary of $4 million and a weekly wage of $200 thousand.
Despite football, he adds some of the value of net worth from endorsements brands and companies. He is the brand ambassador for Adidas.
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Check Out – Chelsea Players’ Current Salary and NetWorth
10) Kante has a surprising role model
The way N’Golo Kante plays the game many fans would be excused for thinking that Kante bases his game around another old destructive midfielder with the name Claude Makelele but Kanté instead said that it was Lassana Diarra, at Chelsea between 2005-07.
Lassana Diarra – Kanté’s Role Model
Makelele was part of the Chelsea team under Mourinho which won back to back titles in 2005 and 2006. He had a positional role named after him such was his influence that people call the holding midfilder role, the Makelele role.
