The France international has been linked with Paris Saint-Germain among others, but seems ready to commit his future to the Blues
N’Golo Kante has signalled his openness to renewing his contract, with Chelsea hoping to tie the midfielder down to a new record-breaking £290,000-a-week deal, Goal understands.
Chelsea are keen to ward off potential suitors by rewarding the France international with a five-year contract that would be the biggest in the club’s history.
The 27-year-old is happy at Stamford Bridge and has enjoyed the platform that English football has given him ever since he moved to Leicester City from Caen in 2015.
Having helped Leicester to a surprise Premier League title in his debut season, he joined Chelsea a year later and repeated the feat under then-manager Antonio Conte.
His consistency and influence has seen a host of clubs show an interest in him, most notably Paris Saint-Germain, but Kante has little interest in moving back to the city where he grew up.
Kante is also not interested in a move to a rival Premier League club, with the only option other than a Chelsea renewal being a move to one of Spain’s two biggest clubs – Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Barcelona are keeping a close eye on developments around the World Cup-winning midfielder, but they have yet to make any serious approach to Chelsea or Kante’s representatives.
Kante, whose current £150,000-a-week deal expires in 2021, is one of Chelsea’s biggest contract renewal priorities, along with team-mate Eden Hazard.
And, while a new deal for Kante would see him become Chelsea’s best-paid player, it could be immediately blown out of the water by a new contract for Hazard, which could break the £300,000-a-week barrier.