Fans Laud N’Golo Kante for Low-key Arrival

N’Golo Kante’s low-key arrival to national team duty has gone viral following the player’s reselection to the French squad for the first time in two years. 

The former Chelsea player was last selected for Les Bleus by Didier Deschamps in June 2022, the last time before persistent injury scuppered his plans to join up with the then-title holders at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

But a run of recent strong form for current club Al-Ittihad has been enough to convince Deschamps of his midfielder’s quality ahead of this summer’s European Championship in Germany. 

Ahead of preparations for the tournament, France internationals streamed through the gates of Clairefontaine and took advantage of the cameras trained on them to show off their finest pre-tournament looks. 

Kante, by contrast, won plaudits for his characteristically unfussy appearance, with a number of fans on social media praising the heavily decorated player for his ‘humility’. 

Captioning a video of Kante getting out of a France-branded minivan and waving to waiting photographers wearing a brown jacket, a beige t-shirt, dark jeans and trainers, one fan called the two-time Premier League winner ‘Mr Humble’. 

Another added: ‘Definition of a humble person (freezing emoji).’ 

A third continued: ‘I just love this guy’s humility.’

Fans were also quick to suggest that his low-key demeanour was linked to his unsplashy but sparkling playing style on the pitch, with one commenting: ‘Man only wanted to play ball all his life.

‘(No concern) with stardom.’

Another agreed, writing: ‘I love this player… on and off the pitch… sublime personality.’

Kante’s arrival cut a stark contrast with his team-mates, especially that of Jules Kounde, who cut a divisive figure when he arrived on Wednesday wearing a pair of Cuban-heeled boots. 

Armchair fashion critics were quick to deride the Barcelona starlet for his risk-taking, which he complemented with a Louis Vuitton carry-all. 

Rather than waving to the waiting press pack, Kounde navigated through the rain from the car to the front door at the training ground wearing ear-pods. 

Over his playing career, Kante has built up a reputation as a humble figure in the game, with his former Chelsea team-mate Antonio Rudiger calling the Legion of Honour-winner completely ‘authentic’. 

‘Before I came to Chelsea, I had heard all the beautiful stories about him,’ Rudiger said of Kante. ‘They said he is always smiling. They said he still drives an old Mini Cooper.

‘They said he never raises his voice. But you know how it goes in football, right? No one is really like that. There is too much pressure, too much disappointment. We are all human. No one is that cool all the time. It’s impossible. Then I met N’Golo.’

‘Everything with Kante is authentic. Even the Mini Cooper – people laugh about it, but there is a real story behind it.

‘It was a dream for Kante to make it to the Premier League, coming from where he came from, and the Mini was the first car that he bought when he got to England. So for him, it is not just a car. It has a deep meaning.

‘I tell people all the time…. There is humble. And there is humble. And then there is N’Golo.’ 

Fans in west London often delighted in spotting Kante driving his cream Mini to and from Stamford Bridge – but the France international is no stranger to a larger purchase. 

Kante bought third-tier Belgian side Royal Excelsior Virton last summer after completing his £172million move to Al-Ittihad.