Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has highlighted the importance of N’Golo Kante to the team after the midfielder returned in the Blues’ 1-1 draw against Leicester on Thursday.
Kante returned to Chelsea’s starting line-up for Tuchel having missed the previous four games due to injury.
The Frenchman is facing an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge with his contract due to expire next summer and there have been rumours of interest from other clubs like Manchester United.
However, Tuchel has likened Kante to Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne in terms of his importance to the side in his post-match press conference.
“I think he is our key, key, key player but key, key, key players need to be on the pitch,” Tuchel said. “He plays only 40 per cent of the games then it is maybe a miracle that we arrive in third place.
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“He is our Mo Salah, he is our Van Dijk, he is our De Bruyne. He is simply that player, he is our Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. He is that guy who makes the difference and if you only have him for 40 per cent, then it is a huge problem.
“Giving that percentage it is maybe a miracle that he produces results. It puts everything into perspective as I saw Liverpool without Van Dijk last season and they struggled heavily. You see the difference. N’Golo is our key player and we need him on the pitch.”
Over the years, Kante has been an integral part of the Chelsea team, however, in recent years due to injury problems, he has featured on and off for Tuchel.
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