N’Golo Kante blew the Premier League away last season for the second campaign in a row.

After playing a key role in Leicester’s shock 5000/1 title win in 2015/2016, the midfielder moved to Chelsea in a £30million deal.

Antonio Conte hasn’t hesitated in building his midfield around the 36-year-old.

While Chelsea sanctioned the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United and they have brought in Tiemoue Bakayoko in his place, Kante is undoubtedly their main man in the centre of the park.

It’s very difficult to find anyone within the game who has anything negative to say about the former Caen star.

There is only one thing the French international is missing, at least according to Claude Makelele, and that’s leadership skills.

“What I like about him is that he’s very generous,” Makelele recently told SFR Sport, per Metro.

MAKELELE’S ONE CRITICISM 
“He plays with a smile on his face, and that’s an exceptional quality. I really hope he has a better career than mine, but he still needs that leadership.

“That doesn’t mean be a captain, but to have an aura within the team that when they look at him, they think ‘We’re going to win’ or when he speaks to them, they go ‘You’re right’.

“When he has that aura, he’ll be an exceptional player. That’s when he’ll become a regular for France.”

Given the plaudits he’s received since moving to England in 2015, it would be understandable if Kante were a little offended by the suggestion that he isn’t already an “exceptional player”.

KANTE RESPONDS 
To his credit, though, he has come out with a thoroughly classy response in an interview with the Premier League.

“I think it’s good to listen to the advice of this type of player like Makelele, I need to listen and try to give my best,” he said.

“But I cannot say I want to do what everyone wants me to do, but it’s good to listen to the advice of players like him and to the staff and manager at Chelsea.

“I want to improve and I’m doing my best to improve so I listen and try to do it. If I do it, okay, but [I try] not to put too much pressure on it.”