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Chelsea midfielder, N’Golo Kanté, has undergone an operation on his hamstring injury and would be sidelined for four months.
This was made known on Tuesday in a statement by the club via its website.
According to the statement: “N’Golo Kante has undergone an operation on his hamstring injury. The midfielder visited a specialist with the club’s medical department to explore the options for his rehabilitation approach and it was mutually agreed for N’Golo to have surgery to repair the damage. Following a successful operation, N’Golo is now expected to be sidelined for four months.”
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Kante has joined the list of clubs whose players would miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which will take place from November 20 to December 18, with 32 teams to compete in eight groups.
Kante is a French professional footballer and France is expected to play its first match at 2022 FIFA World Cup against Australia on November 22.
FIFA is set to pay the sum of $209m to clubs whose players feature at the World Cup while Insurance benefits add up to $134m.
The 31-year-old suffered a setback while on the comeback trail following injury in mid-August.
Kante’s issue is the latest in a long line of problems to have plagued him over the last 12 months, with last season also decimated by injury.
The midfielder was limited to only 21 Premier League starts last time out and has not played since Chelsea’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham almost three months ago.
Kante’s contract is due to expire next summer and talks over an extension have stalled after he wanted a longer-term agreement than the two-year deal offered that included a club option for an extra year.
While keen on extending his stay in west London, Kante will be able to talk to foreign clubs over the prospect of a free transfer in January.
Kanté is widely praised for his work rate and defensive acumen. He made his senior professional debut with Boulogne in 2012, appearing as a substitute in one Ligue 2 match, and played an entire season in the third division the following year.
After that he joined Ligue 2 side Caen on a free transfer, finished third and won promotion to Ligue 1. He stayed with the club for one more year. In 2015, Kanté joined Leicester City for a fee worth £5.6 million.
Kanté was an integral part of the Leicester City team that went on to become surprise Premier League champions in 2016. The following year, he joined Chelsea for a fee worth £32 million and again won the league, making him the first outfield player to win consecutive English league titles with different clubs since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993.
With Chelsea, he has won the FA Cup, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup. Individually, Kante has been awarded the Premier League Player of the Season, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year, the UEFA Men’s Midfielder of the year and the Trophées UNFP for Best French Player Abroad twice.
Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016 and was included in the squad that finished runners-up at the 2016 European Championship.
In 2017 Kanté was named the French Player of the Year, a first for a player from the Premier League in seven years, and twelve months later was a key member of the 2018 FIFA World Cup winning squad.