N'Golo Kante is Chelsea's 'heart', insists Blues team-mate Diego Costa

1/5
Sam Long8 April 2017

N'Golo Kante is the "heart" of Chelsea's team, according to Blues colleague Diego Costa.

Kante joined Antonio Conte's side from Leicester last summer and has made an immediate impact at Stamford Bridge.

The Frenchman has thrived in a 3-4-3 formation, with his energetic displays helping Chelsea climb to the top of the Premier League table.

Kante is vying to secure a second successive winners' medal and is also in the running for the PFA Player of the Year award.

The likes of Eden Hazard often receive the limelight at Chelsea but Costa is adamant the work Kante does in the engine room is invaluable.

"Kante is the team’s heart," Costa told Chelsea's official website.

"He is a player who gives us a lot of things: he scores for us and on the field he offers a huge support, not so much for me personally because of my position at the front.

"But he is always there for the defenders and midfielders. He is an impressive player.

"All you need to think is he left Leicester and Leicester has not had such a good season compared to the previous one, so you really notice a lot when a player like him goes," he added.

Chelsea travel to Bournemouth this evening aiming to strengthen their position at the top of the table.

Costa has not scored in three top-flight fixtures but remains determined to play his part during the run-in.

"We are playing to win a championship. During the previous season I was out a lot of the time, either because of a suspension or an injury.

"So this year I really want to play the remaining matches and enjoy myself here in Chelsea," Costa insisted.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in