N’Golo Kanté ‘nearing’ return from injury, new contract — report

N’Golo Kanté was spotted at training today, though he apparently “did not take part in the full group session”. He did warm up with the first-team and is now “nearing a return to full first-team training” following a hamstring injury and subsequent surgery, which have had him ruled him out since August.

If and when he does finally return, he will certainly be a sight for sore eyes. How long it might take him to come fully up to speed after that remains a massive unknown — and that’s assuming that he can still do that — but there’s a version of an ideal future where his return provides the missing piece that will re-enable this team for success. After all, when he’s at his best, we’ve already proven that we can win the Champions League.

That said, we had spent much of the past couple years trying to figure out a way to move beyond Kanté-dependency. So while the Telegraph report that just as he’s nearing a return to action we’re nearing a new contract, we will still need to figure out that way forward sooner rather than later.

Until then, let’s get that deal signed!