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Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy has revealed that his former teammate N’Golo Kante was close to featuring for Mali before eventually choosing to play for France.
Vardy, who alongside Kante helped Leicester win the Premier League title in 2016, disclosed this in his podcast, Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party.
The ex-England international claimed Kante wanted to honour his paternal roots and represent the Eagles of Mali.
However, his Leicester teammates reportedly convinced him to pledge his allegiance to Les Bleus, who are capable of winning major trophies.
“Originally, he didn’t even want to play for France. He wanted to represent Mali for his dad,” Vardy said.
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“Then France called him before Mali did. We were all at the training ground, like ‘What are you actually thinking about? They’re going to win.”
Kante went on to make his debut for France in March 2016 and finish as a European Championship runner-up later that year.
In 2018, France won the World Cup held in Russia largely thanks to Kanye’s contribution as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world at that point.
He was part of the France squad that finished fourth at the just concluded FIFA World Cup co-hosted by US, Canada and Mexico.
