France midfielder N’Golo Kante is set to miss the World Cup through a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for much of the season.
DailyMail reported that Kante, 31, has missed much of the season through a hamstring injury that he suffered against Tottenham Hotspur all the way back in August. He had slowly been building his way back to full fitness but suffered an aggravation of the injury in training last week.
As first reported by L’Equipe, that injury will now keep Kante out of action into the World Cup with the midfielder unlikely to have recovered in time for the tournament.
It is a major blow to Didier Deschamps and the France team, particularly in the context of the uncertainty surrounding the fitness of Paul Pogba. It could be that France go into the tournament without their two first choice midfielders from their 2018 triumph.
Kante was hoping the injury would only rule him out for a few weeks before the World Cup, as reported by Sportsmail, but the problem now appears to be more serious.
Deschamps had said in September, under a shroud of uncertainty surrounding a number of established France internationals, that he would not select injured players.
Kante’s injury troubles have beset him for a number of months now with the Frenchman’s playing time having been severely reduced in recent times owing to a number of ailments.
The current hamstring injury is the latest in a long line of injuries that has left Kante’s availability for both Chelsea and France limited.
With a packed schedule between now and the November 13 date when the Premier League breaks for the World Cup, Kante’s injury will also concern Graham Potter and Chelsea.
“He had a reaction during training. It’s obviously not ideal. It’s disappointing for him and for us. We have to wait and see how serious it is and then we’ll take it from there,” Potter revealed of Kante’s injury, DailyMail reports.
Contact: theeditor[at]punchng.com
