Saudi football club Al-Ittihad announced on Wednesday that it has recruited international midfielder and French world champion N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea). “Don’t listen to fake news. Kanté is an Ittihad player now! tweeted the Jeddah club. He joins his compatriot Karim Benzema, who welcomed him on Twitter in video.
I’m very excited to play with the Tigers, in front of the fans at Al-Jawhara (the jewel), the club’s stadium in Jeddah, Kanté said in the same video.
Medical exams
Kanté, 32, had signed a three-year pre-contract with Al-Ittihad in early June, but the Saudi club had conditioned his final recruitment on medical examinations, the player having suffered multiple injuries this season.
The native of Rueil-Malmaison, near Paris, lived through the desert last season, away from the field for more than six months due to a hamstring injury, then to an adductor.
With 53 selections for the France team, Kanté remains a part of the Blues, even if he could not participate in the last World Cup in Qatar due to his health problems. He was also offered a new contract by Chelsea, who he joined in 2016.
N’Golo Kanté finds the Ballon d’Or 2022 Karim Benzema, 35, welcomed with great fanfare in early June in Jeddah by tens of thousands of Al-Ittihad supporters, after 14 seasons at Real Madrid.