N'Golo Kante is an upgrade on Chelsea's defensive midfield options and could be the signing of the season for a second straight year, according to Peter Smith...
N'Golo Kante was the signing of the 2015/16 season, playing a key role in Leicester City's shock title triumph after making a £5.6m switch from French club Caen.
Twelve months on, his value has rocketed by over 400 per cent, with Chelsea splashing £32m on the France international after a nightmare defence of their Premier League crown.
Can Kante have a similar impact at Stamford Bridge as he did with Leicester? New Chelsea boss Antonio Conte will hope so - especially after seeing his new team opened up on numerous occasions by Rapid Vienna in his first game in charge on Saturday.
Conte only had three days to work with his Chelsea squad before they faced a Rapid side fired up to perform on the opening night of their new stadium and fine-tuned to kick-off their domestic season next week - but nonetheless there were worrying signs for the London outfit.
With defensively-minded midfielders Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel starting in the holding roles of a 4-2-3-1 formation, the conservative Conte - who had emphasised the importance of "good organisation" in his first Chelsea press conference - would have expected better from his side when they were passed through for Joelinton's eighth-minute opener.
Louis Schaub, Steffen Hofmann and Joelinton each had good chances to add a second before Mikel's 58th-minute substitution. Vienna's Tomi eventually doubled the advantage late on once Matic had also been withdrawn.
Given Conte's limited time with his squad and the fact a number of key first-team players involved in Euro 2016 are yet to return, there shouldn't be too much read into the performance. There are still four weeks before the new Premier League campaign for the Italian to get his men firing.
But Conte cannot afford for the team to repeat last season's mistakes and defensive midfield was a clear area to address.
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