Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante was granted compassionate leave last month when all the Premier League teams returned to training and it was certain the Frenchman would not play any more part during the rest 2019-20 season.
The Blues take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in their first game after the resumption and earlier this week, ESPN had reported that N’Golo Kante will not be considered for selection in this match.
The report claimed: “Chelsea head boss Frank Lampard is facing up to the prospect of being without key midfielder N’Golo Kante for the Premier League’s resumption next week, sources have told ESPN.”
Now in a major selection boost, the midfielder did feature for Chelsea during their friendly against Reading this week which is a major indication that Lampard could use Kante against Villa.
The Metro writes: “N’Golo Kante featured in Chelsea’s friendly victory over Reading on Wednesday to give Frank Lampard a major boost ahead of next week’s Premier League resumption.
“The France international had been excused from training last month amid fears over his safety. Kante’s family has a history of heat-related illness, while the former Leicester midfielder, himself, shocked teammates when he feinted shortly before the 2018 World Cup.
“Chelsea had been prepared to give the 29-year-old an extended leave of absence and were even giving consideration to allowing him to miss the rest of the season.
N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic were among the Chelsea players who beat Reading during a friendly today. pic.twitter.com/seI8nztE70
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 10, 2020
“Kante, however, returned to full-contact training earlier this week and now looks set to be in contention for Chelsea’s first Premier League fixture in three months next week against Aston Villa.”
This is great news for all the Chelsea fans but some experts think everyone shouldn’t get their hopes up too high since N’Golo Kante can still be ruled out of the Aston Villa vs Chelsea game.
It’s not the first time that the World Cup winner has returned to Cobham after his leave since he has been doing individual sessions at the club’s training grounds for some time now. But this game vs Reading was probably the first time when the midfielder was part of match in a really long time.
