As every successful
Chelsea manager has twigged, N’Golo Kanté is the great hidden gift in this group of players
![N’Golo Kanté: the one-man midfield who conquered Europe for Chelsea | Barney Ronay](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ea701ddc8a9a8ee5c80d3a300dc59f93621a63b8/0_38_4500_2700/master/4500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=4b71a0d84dc5429902774cded48aa2e3)
The
Champions League final of 2021 will be remembered as the night when
Manchester City sent out an excess of midfielders, a tripling-up of midfielders, a team clogging every hole with essence of midfielder. In an odd twist Chelsea did pretty much the same, albeit in more targeted
fashion. Enter, N’Golo Kanté, the one-man midfield overload.
There was a moment in the second half at the Estádio do Dragão when Kanté drew gasps and purrs around the plastic seats, a sense of one man taking the endgame into his own hands.