REVEALED: How Chelsea Beat Real Madrid, Arsenal And Juventus To Sign Kante

N’Golo Kante may have completed his move to Chelsea on Saturday, but the Blues had to fight hard to get their man amid interest from a number of Europe’s biggest clubs.

The France international was offered to a host of clubs set to play in the Champions League next season – including Juventus, Arsenal and Real Madrid – while Leicester City also offered him a fresh four-year deal in a bid to keep him at the King Power Stadium.

But it was Chelsea and new manager Antonio Conte who secured a deal for the PFA Player of the Year nominee, so how were they able to pull off one of the summer’s biggest deals?

Juventus came closest to adding the former Caen man to their squad ahead of the 2016-17 campaign as they held talks with Kante’s entourage, but with no agreement over a fee reached, the Serie A champions missed out.

Kante’s hometown club Paris Saint-Germain were also very keen given the player’s ties to the club, but like Juve they were unable to get past talks with the player’s representatives before Chelsea moved in.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was keen to sign a central midfielder for his Champions League winners, but they did not move quiclkly enough despite Kante being added to their shortlist in recent weeks.

In terms of interest from elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal passed having moved onto signing a striker in wake of signing Granit Xhaka while Manchester City opted not to pursue any deal after showing an interest at the start of the summer.

Perhaps the biggest competition came from China, with Shanghai Shenhua reportedly having tabled a £35 million bid in recent weeks, though the player was less keen to move to the Far East despite the money on offer.

All that left the door open for Chelsea and Conte to pounce as they look to bolster their squad following the disappointment of finishing 10th when defending their Premier League crown last term.

Source: Goal