Chelsea, Leicester agree Kante fee – reports

Chelsea have agreed a deal with Leicester City to sign midfielder N’Golo Kante, according to multiple reports.

The Premier League teams have reached an agreement to a transfer fee around £29.2 million, including add-ons, according to The Guardian.

Sky Sports said the fee could reach as high as £32 million.

Kante is set to sign a five-year deal that will pay him about £120,000 a week, according to The Express, reportedly triple what he made with Leicester last season.

Leicester offered Kante an improved four-year deal before he represented host nation France at Euro 2016, but his fine performances there only spurred further interest from Europe’s biggest clubs.

And manager Claudio Ranieri conceded on Thursday that the decision now was in the player’s hands.

Kante was a revelation during his maiden season in the Premier League as his energetic, combative performances in the middle of the park were key to Leicester’s surprise title success.

He was named on the six-man shortlist for the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award won by Foxes teammate Riyad Mahrez.

In moving to Chelsea, Kante would give up the opportunity to play in the Champions League in the upcoming season after the Blues finished 10th in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old would be the first Leicester star this summer to leave the team, who signed the Frenchman last year from Caen for £5.6 million.

Last month, striker Jamie Vardy signed a contract extension to stay with Leicester after a major push from Arsenal.

Leicester have signed midfielder Nampalys Mendy from Nice and Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow this month, while Chelsea already spent a large sum to add forward Michy Batshuayi from Marseille.

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