LONDON // N’Golo Kante’s dynamic performances for double chasing Chelsea received the ultimate accolade from his peers on Sunday, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award.
The 26-year-old French midfielder saw off the likes of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Everton’s marksman Romelu Lukaku for the prestigious award.
It may well not be the last piece of silverware he lifts this season as unlike his former teammates at Leicester City – for whom he was the driving force of a stunning title success last year – he stands on the brink of becoming the first player to win successive league titles with different clubs.
“To be chosen by the players to be player of the year means a lot to me,” Kante said.
“It means the world to be chosen and it’s been two beautiful seasons, one with Leicester, and we are in good form with Chelsea. To be player of the year, it’s a great honour.”
Kante, who also faces an FA Cup final date against Arsenal, said Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, like Leicester’s title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri an Italian, had instilled a winning mentality into the players.
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Read more
■ Greg Lea: Arsenal move on to FA Cup final date with Chelsea
■ Report: Chelsea keep double hopes alive as Tottenham defence falters at Wembley
■ Podcast: Kante and Alli to walk away with awards
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“He knows what he wants from the players,” Kante said.
“He wants to win, and we work very, very, very hard in training for him. He put a winning mentality into the squad, and everyone wants to give their best for the team, and to make Chelsea win titles.”
Kante, who had a modest playing career in France with Boulogne and then Caen, said the award will not go to his head as he acknowledges they face a tough battle to win either the league or the FA Cup – Spurs are just four points behind them in the title race and Arsenal will be desperate to rescue a poor season with a trophy.
“We’re going to fight for both competitions,” Kante said.
“The cup is just one game, and the league six games, and we’re going to give our best to win these two competitions.”
Kante’s performances this season has had former players eulogising about his ability especially after he totally overshadowed his compatriot and the world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba in the 1-0 win over Manchester United in March.
“I’d go as far to say that he’s the best central midfield player in the world on current form,” former England and Chelsea great Frank Lampard told the BBC of Kante.
“Looking at the way he’s performing this year, he may not be scoring lots of goals but what he’s giving to the team in the way he’s playing, the driving force that he is, I cannot see anyone else out there in world football better than him at the moment.”
Former Barcelona and England striker Gary Lineker said he had the potential to be the greatest midfielder of all time if he corrected one facet of his game.
“Bloody hell, if Kante starts scoring goals as well he’ll become the best midfield player ever,” tweeted Lineker
Tottenham, who would relish the title even more after being beaten 4-2 by Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, did not go away empty-handed.
Their goalscoring English midfielder Dele Alli, whom many thought should have been a contender for the senior award, won the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the second successive year.
Other winners included Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze who was the women’s player of the year for a second occasion having won it in 2014. Birmingham City’s Jess Carter won the young player of the year award.
Former England captain Davd Beckham followed among another former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs in receiving the PFA’s Merit award for his contribution to the game.
N’Golo Kante in numbers
■ £32 million (Dh150m) – what it cost Chelsea to sign Kante from champions Leicester City – £3m less than Arsenal spent on Granit Xhaka, and roughly a third of Paul Pogba’s fee paid by Manchester United.
■ 23 – Premier League wins for Kante this season in 31 appearances, the same number he managed in 37 games for Leicester last term.
■ 110 – tackles made, ranking him second in the Premier League behind Idrissa Gueye.
■ 66 – percentage of successful tackles.
■ 72 – interceptions, joint seventh most in the league and highest of any Chelsea player.
■ 1,899 – passes completed, fifth highest in the league.
■ 2,779 – minutes played, third most of any Chelsea outfield player.
■ 8 – yellow cards, joint most of any Chelsea player with Diego Costa.
■ 0 – red cards.
■ 1 – league goal scored, past Manchester United, who he also netted against in the FA Cup.
■ 1 – he is close to becoming the first player to win back-to-back Premier League titles with different clubs.
* Agencies
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RESULT
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal: Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87')
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
MATCH INFO
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BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
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Rating: 3.5/5
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
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- Flexible work arrangements
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The specs
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England's Ashes squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
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Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
Brief scores:
Manchester City 3
Bernardo Silva 16', Sterling 57', Gundogan 79'
Bournemouth 1
Wilson 44'
Man of the match: Leroy Sane (Manchester City)