N’Golo Kanté to miss four more months after hamstring surgery

I appreciate Chelsea’s newfound habit of officially announcing injuries, but unfortunately we’ve had to do so a few too many times of late.

The latest is the announcement that N’Golo Kanté is “expected to be sidelined for four months” (4!) after underdoing a successful operation on his hamstring. The midfielder has been dealing with that injury since the second game of the season and looked to be close to returning the other week before suffering a setback. Following a consultation this weekend, it evidently had been decided that surgery would be the best course of action.

So yeah, not great. Quite terrible in fact.

Kanté has been dealing with various minor injuries for the past few years, and in a way, this is not unexpected evolution of that unfortunate trend. Questions have been raised increasingly often about his viability as a key player in the squad — uncomfortably and quietly at first, but more and more obviously more recently — and this development will only emphasize those concerns. And it will likely affect his contract talks with the club as well, which have been already trending towards a separation at the end of this season.

All that said, let’s hope that NG can make a full recovery from this operation and return at full capacity this season still. And perhaps this drastic step will help him stays more consistently healthy and fit in the future. He is still just 31 and these days, that’s not necessary the end of a (top-flight) football career.

Get well soon!