N’GOLO KANTE turned down a nice little earner to prove again he is one.
The 5ft 6ins French World Cup winner, 27, reportedly refused to let his image rights be paid to an offshore tax haven, instead telling Chelsea he just wants a “normal salary”.
That revelation is the latest example of why many say the 27-year-old is the nicest man in football, as well as the most humble.
Of course, you won’t hear Kante claiming that, as shyness and modesty are two common descriptions of the man who made history by winning back-to-back Premier League titles with Leicester and Chelsea.
Midfielder Kante’s workrate on the pitch is legendary.
And some say the 2016-17 double player-of-the-year has been the Prem’s most effective performer since moving to the King Power from Caen the season before.
So why is Kante also so popular off the field?
It’s easy to leap on a bandwagon when a celebrity gets a label, but here are seven specific reasons why Kante lives up the hype that never comes from him.
SAYING NO TO TAX HAVEN
Even though payment from an offshore company could have reportedly saved Kante around £870,000 a year, the “increasingly concerned” Frenchman instead reached agreement with a British company.
Kante’s decision earned widespread praise – and complimentary comparisons with many other celebrities.
TOO SHY TO HOLD THE WORLD CUP
Anchorman Kante was spotted by Steven N’Zonzi hanging around at the back of the pack as France celebrated winning the World Cup for the first time – in Moscow in July.
Seville star N’Zonzi got the trophy off Florian Thauvin so Kante could pose with it. Shy Kante even had to ask team-mates to let him have a photo with the world’s most iconic piece of silverware in sport.
Kante, who played the 4-2 final win over Croatia with a stomach bug, also asked France players to calm down when they loudly chanted his name.
HE’S A MINI MARVEL
WHILE Kante’s team-mates roll-up in luxury cars, Kante turns up in the second-hand Mini Cooper he bought when he joined Leicester three years ago.
Last season he collided with a lorry but still drove the patched-up Saloon into training.
An accident witness said: “He must have been pretty annoyed but he was more than happy for fans to take selfies with him.”
Kante himself said of his modest motoring habits: “I’ve never been someone who loves a car and when I was young I didn’t have the ambition of a car or something like that.”
ONE OF THE PEOPLE
EVER-RELIABLE Blues’ hero Kante turned a missed Eurstar trip home to his Paris-based family into a special evening for another household he did not know until that night
Following the 4-1 Prem defeat of Cardiff in September, Kante was late for his train, so the devout Muslim searched for a local mosque on his phone so he could go to evening prayer.
A small group of football fans there recognised him and invited him back for dinner – where they cooked him a curry, chatted, played Fifa and watched Match of the Day – starring, of course, Kante himself.
KIND TO RIVAL FANS
KANTE showed his understanding side when he comforted an Arsenal fan after Chelsea’s thrilling 3-2 win over the Gunners at Stamford Bridge in August.
A supporter posted a picture of himself with Kante and said: “Just met this man. Told him I was an Arsenal fan and I was upset about the game this weekend but he smiled at me and said ‘sorry’. What a guy.”
True, it’s easier to be sympathetic after winning, but still it’s nice to take the time in public to show it.
MIGHTY BUT MODEST
AFTER France’s epic 4-3 win KO’d Argentina in the World Cup last-16 in Kazan, Kante played down the praise heaped on him.
Fellow midfielder Blaise Matuidi said: “N’Golo Kante, he is small but he stopped Lionel Messi.”
To which, pocket-sized Kante kept a low profile but replied: “No, no, no – we did it together as a team.”
HIS FAMILY ARE JUST AS LOVELY
PCITURES OF Kante’s beaming family members, images of a shared joy and a shining bond after France lifted the World Cup, perhaps showed how and why Kante is in touch with his roots and touches so many, having come from a simple background.
SOURCE: thesun.co.uk
