N’Golo Kante joins Benzema at Al-Ittihad as Saudi clubs continue transfer spree

File picture of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante in action in the Premier League. Kante has left Chelsea to join Saudi club Al-Ittihad
| Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters

N’Golo Kante won pretty much everything in European football. Now he’s trying his luck in the lucrative Saudi league, where he’ll have another France superstar for company.

Kante completed his widely expected move to Saudi champion Al-Ittihad on a three-year deal Wednesday after six years at Chelsea, with his new club opening its doors to the 32-year-old midfielder with a series of tweets containing the hashtag “WelcomeBox2Box” — referring to his hard-running style of play.

One of Kante’s biggest fans is already at Al-Ittihad — Karim Benzema, the reigning world player of the year and a former teammate with France’s national team. He moved there this month.

“One time I told you you are the best player box-to-box in the world,” said Benzema, in a video he sent apparently while sitting in a private plane. “Now I’m happy to play with you again. And of course, at the best team in Saudi. See you in Jeddah.” Kante — all smiles, as ever — sent a reply.

“Thank you Karim — nice to see you again,” he said. “Thank you for your words. I am very pleased to play with you, with the best player in the world. And I’m very excited to play with the Tigers.”

Set to earn $100 million

Kante will reportedly earn more than $100 million across the length of the deal at a team coached by former Tottenham and Wolverhampton manager Nuno Espirito Santo. It recently won the Saudi league ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.

Kante, who won the World Cup with France in 2018, the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and has been one of the best players in the Premier League in recent years as a back-to-back champion with Leicester (2016) and Chelsea (2017), has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons.

That hasn’t put off Al-Ittihad from apparently spending big on Kante, a few weeks after bringing in Benzema following the expiry of his contract at Real Madrid.

“It is part of the club’s efforts to establish itself as a top choice for world-class players in the Saudi Professional League,” Al-Ittihad said.

Big names

The big names — albeit players nearing the end of their careers — are being enticed to the Saudi league, where spending is being fueled by a move by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund to take a majority ownership stake in four of the country’s top clubs, including Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr. The move is part of a nationalisation project that encourages public sector organizations to invest in sports, with soccer teams a priority under the initiative backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Another of those four teams, Al-Hilal, tried to buy Lionel Messi but Argentina’s World Cup winner decided to join Inter Miami in the United States.

A slew of leading players are being linked with moves to Saudi Arabia in this European offseason, including Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Wolverhampton midfielder Ruben Neves.

Another was Tottenham winger Son Heung-min, who was reportedly a target of Al-Ittihad but is not ready to move to Saudi Arabia.

“Money is not the most important thing to me right now,” Son told reporters on Tuesday after South Korea drew 1-1 with El Salvador in an international friendly in Daejeon.

“I am not ready to go to that league,” he said when asked about reports of a lucrative attempt to lure him. “I really like the Premier League and have more things to do in the league. So I will return and get prepared.”