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Story by Michael Lee
N’Golo Kante has a well-earned reputation as football’s nicest man, but a series of disputed refereeing decisions in Saudi Arabia have turned the smiling midfielder into the Incredible Hulk.
Kante moved to Al-Ittihad in 2023, winning both the Saudi Pro League and the King’s Cup, alongside winning back his place in the France squad for Euro 2024.
But he’s also one of those players admired across football’s tribal spectrum.
With his bashful personality off the pitch and quiet brilliance on it, Kante achieved the almost impossible feat of winning neutral affections while playing for Chelsea.
Which makes it even more remarkable that the Saudi Pro League seems to have snapped something in Kante’s brain that we never knew existed.
Vexed by a string of referring decisions against his team-mates, the 34-year-old metamorphosed into Roy Keane with an anguished yell in the official’s direction.
It was a stunning sight, akin to seeing a naked nun swear at pedestrians as they zoom down the High Street on a moped.
And a thought for the officials, too. Imagine your performance at work was so questionable that it upset the most placid guy in football history?
Kante helped Leicester City win the Premier League in the 2015-16 season before moving to Stamford Bridge and becoming one of the best midfielders in the club’s history.
Between 2016 and 2023, the France international won the Champions League, Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup at Stamford Bridge.
