Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed why Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante chose to join the Blues instead of the North London side during last summer’s transfer window, stating that the difference maker was the money.
Chelsea are flying high on top of the Premier League table with a nine point lead to the third placed London rivals, and are set to face them this Saturday at Stamford Bridge.
Wenger says he’s not surprised to see the Blues in such good position following the rejuvenating of star forwards Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, also praising Kante’s performance against Liverpool last Tuesday.
“It’s no coincidence that they [Chelsea] are in the position that they are and Leicester were in the position they were last season. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa have come back to very strong form compared to last season, so they are very efficient when they go forward.
I watched their game against Liverpool [on Tuesday] and N’Golo Kante had a huge impact in their team.
When asked whether he was close to signing the Frenchman, Wenger confirms but hints that the reason why Chelsea were able to land him instead was due to money.
Yes [we were close to signing him]. When he in France, when he at Leicester.
What happened? I cannot explain everything, but it is quite obvious when you look where he has gone.
Kante earns a strong 110,000-a-week salary at the Bridge – an amount that Arsenal would also have the finances for – but Wenger doesn’t want to admit whether it was a money issue when questioned about it.
I do not want to talk about that. Transfers are transfers, you cannot explain absolutely everything.”
– Arsene Wenger, Evening Standard
Following Kante’s arrival to Chelsea, the French manager turned on to sign Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Grenit Xhaka, who’ll be missing tomorrow’s game due to his second red card of the season.
Wenger himself is currently suffering from a four-match ban which prohibits him from managing the game from the touchline – still letting him feature inside the stadium – following his push on the fourth official in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Burnely slightly over a week ago.
