After a six-month stalemate, most of which he has spent injured, N’Golo Kanté is reportedly set to agree a contract extension with Chelsea. Given those circumstances, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the extension is said to be a “short-term” deal — i.e. shorter than the three-year contract he had been seeking before, and maybe even shorter than the two-year deal we were willing to offer before.
The Times’ report does not specify the exact length of this impending deal. There had been some online chatter that Chelsea may have relented and given in to those initial demands after our talks with Benfica over Enzo Fernández broke down, but it’s much more likely that those two situations aren’t directly related — they are very different style midfielders after all.
In any case, hopefully this report is indeed true, in every aspect. With Kanté’s age and injury history, a long-term deal does not make much sense, especially when we also consider the rebuild that we’re supposed to be undertaking. But letting him walk for free is also hardly ideal, especially as he can probably still be a key contributor if and when he’s fully fit and healthy.
A one-year rolling contract, just as we used to do with all players over 30, would be a perfect.
