Chelsea 'nearing agreement with N'Golo Kante over contract extension' that would keep the 31-year-old at the club until 2026... just one month after it emerged that the Frenchman was prepared to leave Stamford Bridge this summer on a free

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N'Golo Kante is reportedly being close to agreeing a contract extension with Chelsea that will keep him at the club until 2026.

Kante's current deal at the club expires at the end of the season, and the two parties have been engaged in discussions for months regarding his future at Stamford Bridge.

According to Foot Mercato the club's offer has been tabled to the World Cup-winner, with the ball now in Kante's court.

N'Golo Kante is reportedly set to agree to a contract extension at Chelsea that would see him remain at the club until 2026

With his current contract set to expire in June, the 31-year-old has received interest from a number of clubs including Al-Nassr, the Saudi Arabian side that shocked the footballing world last month by signing Cristiano Ronaldo.

After playing the full 90 minutes of Chelsea Premier League opener against Everton, Kante sustained a hamstring injury the following week in the club's dramatic 2-2 draw with Spurs and was forced off in the final minutes.

The severity of the injury meant that the France international was left out of Didier Deschamps' side that reached the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Kante has not played since October after suffering a hamstring injury in the club's draw with Spurs

Since then Graham Potter has taken over from Thomas Tuchel as manager at the club 

Kante has been sidelined since before Graham Potter was appointed Blues boss in September following Thomas Tuchel's sacking, and the former Brighton manager offered an update on the midfielder's condition during a recent press conference.

‘He’ll be end of Feb, start of March. It’s a surgery so it’s a minimum period of four months. My focus is to help him get back fit as soon as possible, and getting him back on the pitch in the right way, because we haven’t seen him.’ Potter said.

Kante has made 185 Premier League appearances for Chelsea since joining the club in 2016 and was part of Tuchel's side that won the Champions League in 2021.