Frank
Leboeuf has described N'Golo Kante as being 'a vital player for Chelsea' but
does not believe his fellow Frenchman is a natural leader.
The 25-year-old midfielder is on course to collect a second successive
Premier League winners' medal, having played a key role in Leicester City's
title-winning season 12 months ago.
He moved to Stamford Bridge last summer and has impressed all over again but
Leboeuf prefers to describe his compatriot as 'the engine, not the driver.'
Leboeuf, 49, who played for Chelsea between 1996 and 2001 and won the World
Cup with France in 1998, said: "Kante should clearly be in the France team,
but I don't think he has the spirit of a boss.
"He is an incredible soldier, and a warrior, but he has neither the
personality nor the calibre of a leader.
"He is Mr Essential at Chelsea in among all their big stars. [Antonio] Conte
relies on him, but he has never given Kante the role of a boss on the field.
"Kante doesn't have a leader's style of play. He is not a Zinedine Zidane
figure. He is timid and lacks the necessary scope. He is not even a leader
when it comes to skill. The lad is vital to Chelsea, but he is not a boss as
he is not a good talker.
"He is a lad who'll win you the ball 800,000 times every game. You can sum
him up in one sentence. He is the engine, but not the driver."
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