N’Golo Kante: Early Life, Clubs, Family, Net Worth, Career & Stats

N’golo Kante is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for the France national team and Al-Ittihad. He made his senior debut with Boulogne in 2012 after beginning his junior career with JS Suresnes in 1999. He played for Leicester City from 2015 to 2016 after playing for Caen from 2013 to 2015.

Kante was a crucial member of Leicester’s 2015–16 team that won the Premier League title. He won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2016–17 and the FA Cup in 2017–18. He also became the first outfield player since Eric Cantona to win back-to-back English Premier League championships with various clubs in 1992 and 1993.

EARLY LIFE

N’golo Kante was born in Paris, France, on March 29, 1991. He has French and Malian citizenship and is an Aries by birth sign. His parents are Malians who fled their country and came to America. He was raised in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, and his younger sister participates in youth soccer with Suresnes.

Kante has loved football since he was a youngster, and he and his buddies used to play in his backyard. Before enrolling in the Boulogne youth system, he started playing amateur football at the age of eight with JS Suresnes.

Also Read: Al Ittihad FC Players: The Club’s Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards

CLUB CAREER

BOULOGNE

Kante began his career at the age of eight at JS Suresnes, in Paris and was there for a decade. He wasn’t quite noticed due to his short stature and selfless playing style. In 2012 Arsene Wenger passed on the offer of signing Kante, then Suresnes president personally drove him to trial at different clubs. He finally joined the reserve team of Boulogne and made his professional debut in the last game of the League 2 Season on 18 May 2012.

CAEN

In 2013, Kante joined League 2 side Caen and played 38 games in his first season as they came 3^rd in League 2 and earned promotion to League 1. The following season, Kante played 37 games as Caen remained in the top flight; he recovered the ball more times over the season than any other player in Europe.

LEICESTER CITY

Scouted by Steve Walsh for premier league club Leicester City, he joined on 3^rd August 2015 on a four-year contract, for a reported 8 million fee. He made his debut five days later by replacing Vardy for the final 8 minutes of a 4-2 home win over Sunderland.

He was considered to be a major factor in the club’s excellent form as they went on to win the 2015–16 Premier League, consistently making a high number of tackles and interceptions.

In April, he was one of four Leicester players named in the PFA Team of the Year. By the end of the season, Kanté had managed 175 tackles (31 more than any other player) and 157 interceptions (15 more than any other player), topping the defensive stats at the end of the 2015–16 Premier League season.

CHELSEA

On 16 July 2016, Kanté signed a five-year deal with Chelsea who reportedly paid £32 million in transfer fees. A few months later in December 2016, Kanté was named by L’Équipe as the world’s sixth-best footballer of 2016.

On 13 March 2017, Kanté was named man of the match and scored the only goal in the 51st minute, in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

He signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea on 23 November 2018, making him Chelsea’s highest-paid player. Kanté scored the first goal of Chelsea’s 2–1 EFL Cup semi-final second-leg win at home to Tottenham Hotspur. On 8 October, Kanté was one of five Chelsea players included in the final 30-man shortlist for the 2021 Ballon d’Or.

On 13 February 2022, he helped Chelsea to their first FIFA Club World Cup triumph in a 2–1 win over Palmeiras. Later that season he suffered a hamstring injury during a match against Tottenham Hotspur, which kept him sidelined until April 2023.

AL-ITTIHAD

Upon the expiration of his Chelsea contract on July 1, 2023, Kante agreed to sign for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Born to Malian parents, Kanté was approached by Mali ahead of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations having not played for France in any of their age group teams. Kanté declined on the basis that he was still trying to establish himself in Ligue 1.

Mali issued a further invitation to Kanté in January 2016, but Kante insisted that he was undecided about which national team he should represent and was also hoping for a call from France. On 17 March 2016, Kanté was selected for the France senior squad for the first time to face the Netherlands and Russia in friendlies.

He made his debut against the former eight days later, replacing Lassana Diarra at halftime in a 3–2 win at the Amsterdam Arena. The then 25-year-old made his first start and scored to open a 4–2 win over Russia at the Stade de France.

On 10 June 2016, Kanté appeared in his first competitive match for France by starting the opening match of Euro 2016 against Romania; he played the entire match, made the most passes, the most tackles, the most interceptions, covered the most distance on the pitch and assisted Dimitri Payet’s winning goal in a 2–1 victory.

On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia by manager Didier Deschamps. He featured in all 7 matches for France in the tournament.

He was awarded Man of the Match in a 0–0 draw against Denmark in the final match of the group stage on 26 June, and on 15 July, Kanté started in France’s 4–2 win over Croatia in the final of the tournament. In May 2021, Kanté was called up for the France squad for UEFA Euro 2020.

He helped France win the 2021 Nations League, playing in the group stages but missing the semifinal and final due to contracting COVID-19. Kanté missed the 2022 FIFA World Cup as he recovered from a serious hamstring injury

RECORDS

• In the 2015-16 Season, Kante became the first outfield player to win back-to-back top-flight titles in England with two different clubs (Leicester City and Chelsea).
• Kante is the only player to win the Premier League Player of the Season award in consecutive seasons for two different clubs.
• Kante has won the most tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League in four different seasons.
• In the 2018 World Cup, Kante made the most interceptions of any player in the tournament with 25.
• In the 2021 Champions League final, Kante became the first player to win Man of the Match awards in both the semi-final and final of the same Champions League season since the award was introduced in 1994.

AWARDS ACHIEVEMENTS

Leicester City

• Premier League: 2015–16

Chelsea

• Premier League: 2016–17
• FA Cup: 2017–18, runner-up: 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21,2021–22
• UEFA Champions League: 2020–21
• UEFA Europa League: 2018–19
• UEFA Super Cup: 2021
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2021
• EFL Cup runner-up: 2018–19, 2021–22

France

• FIFA World Cup: 2018
• UEFA Nations League: 2020–21
• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2016

Individual

• • PFA Team of the Year: 2015–16 Premier League, 2016–17 Premier League
• • ESM Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17
• • Leicester City Players’ Player of the Year: 2015–16
• • L’Équipe Team of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018
• • PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
• • Premier League Player of the Season: 2016–17
• • FWA Footballer of the Year: 2016–17
• • Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17

• • Chelsea Player of the Year: 2017–18
• • UNFP Best French Player Playing Abroad: 2017,2018
• • French Player of the Year: 2017
• • FIFA FIFPro World11: 2018, 2021
• • UEFA Team of the Year: 2018
• • UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19
• • UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
• • UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season: 2020–21
• • Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2018

PERSONAL LIFE

Kanté is a practicing Muslim. He grew up in a small apartment in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine. His father died shortly after N’Golo turned 11 and his elder sibling Niama died of a heart attack before the 2018 World Cup.

He is named after King Ngolo Diarra of the Bamana Empire. His younger sister was also in the youth system at Suresnes. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Diego Maradona were his favorite players growing up. At the age of 21, while playing for Boulogne, he earned a diploma in vocational accounting.

At the start of his professional career at Boulogne, he commuted to training on a kick scooter and later a mini hatch his first purchase in England. Kanté is aware of his public perception as a shy and private individual but also said that stories about him by current and former teammates, like Jamie Vardy, were often exaggerated.

Kanté’s nickname is “NG,” and outside of football, he enjoys playing tennis. During his initiation at Chelsea, which he described as a “stressful moment,” his teammates said he was not loud enough. His favorite dish is thieboudienne because of his mother’s cooking.

NET WORTH

Kante is reportedly on 86.2 million a year at al-Ittihad and has a net worth of 20 million.

FAMILY

Kante’s father died when he was just 11 years old and their mother was the sole breadwinner looking after him and his siblings. Kante has two older brothers and a younger sister. His older brother, Yacine is also a professional footballer who currently plays for a club in France.

PARTNER

Kante is married to Jude Litter a 46-year-old businesswoman.

HOUSES

Kante leads a simple and private lifestyle, his housing details are currently unknown to the public.