Steve Nicol has told Liverpool that they should be one of the clubs interested in signing N’Golo Kante when his Chelsea contract expires in the summer.
The Frenchman, who has struggled for fitness this term and is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, will be a free agent at the end of the season and reports are suggesting that Jurgen Klopp is interested in bringing him to Anfield.
The World Cup winner has become recognised as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League since helping Leicester City to the title in 2015 before moving to Chelsea where he has tasted more success.
“If I am a coach of the best team on the planet, and he’s [Kante] available, then I want to sign him,” Nicol told ESPN (via Rousing The Kop). “There are certain things that you take a chance on in football, and this is one of them.
“You know exactly what you are getting when he is fit. You know you are getting a player, a gentleman and an experienced winner. He’s the whole package. The nicest guy in the world. Fantastic in the dressing room. You are getting everything.
“The question is, the fitness side of it, but it’s worth a gamble. If I am Madrid, Man City, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern, or any of the so-called big guys. If this guy is on a free, then I am signing him.”
Reds fans have been calling for the club to sign a new midfielder since the summer but after Cody Gakpo was the only incoming at Liverpool in January, supporters will have to wait until the end of the campaign before reinforcements are added in the middle of the park.
Fabinho, who is often deployed in a defensive midfield role similar to Kante, has struggled massively this season while Jordan Henderson is also showing signs of ageing.
Thiago Alcantara is finding it difficult to single-handedly try and control the centre of the pitch and James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are all set to become free agents at the end of the season when their contracts expire.
Kante may now be the wrong side of 30 and would therefore go against Liverpool’s current transfer criteria, but the consistency and work rate that the former Caen man would bring to our side is something that is sorely lacking at present.
Jude Bellingham is believed to be Klopp’s main transfer target for the summer, but a move for the Chelsea star is one that we’d welcome with open arms at L4.
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