Chelsea has joined the list of clubs whose players are set to miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after confirming that injury on midfielder N’golo Kante has ruled him out of active football for, at least, four months.
FIFA is set to pay the sum of $209m to clubs whose players feature at the World Cup while Insurance benefits add up to $134m.
Chelsea in a statement on Tuesday evening confirmed that the France international who was instrumental in the World Cup triumph of the French side over Croatia will not play at the tournament as he is set to undergo a surgery over a hamstring injury.
The 31-year-old suffered a setback while on the comeback trail, following injury in mid-August.
Kante’s issue is the latest in a long line of problems that have plagued Chelsea over the last 12 months, with last season also decimated by injury.
The midfielder was limited to only 21 Premier League starts last time out and has not been able to play since Chelsea’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham almost three months ago.
Kante’s contract is due to expire next summer and talks over an extension have stalled after he wanted a longer-term agreement than the two-year deal offered that included a club option for an extra year.
While keen on extending his stay in west London, Kante will be able to talk to foreign clubs over the prospect of a free transfer in January.
Meanwhile, Coach Potter had confirmed that all the other players in the squad are fit and ‘available’, including Thiago Silva was rested completely from the win over Wolves having had a cold two weeks ago.
‘Thiago was okay when we played AC Milan but he just got a little bit worse as the week went on. Because there was only two days in between the games it made no sense to play him again. But he’s recovered well, and he’s been incredibly impressive on and off the pitch. As a leader, he’s a top professional, and a top person so he’s been a joy to work with,” Potter had said.
Izuchukwu OkosiIzuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.