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N’Golo Kante beats Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema to French Player of the Year award

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N'Golo Kante beats Mbappe and Benzema to French Player of the Year award — N’Golo Kante has enjoyed a fantastic year (Picture: Getty)

N’Golo Kante has beat Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema to the French Player of the Year award.

The Chelsea midfielder, 26, won the France Football gong on Tuesday, edging out Paris Saint-Germain striker Mbappe by five votes while Real Madrid‘s Benzema came third.

Antoine Griezmann, the prolific France and Atletico Madrid forward, won the award last year.

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Kante started his professional career at Boulogne and was signed by Leicester City in 2015 for a fee of £5.6million. The Paris-born star became an instant hit at the King Power, helping the Foxes defy the odds to win a stunning Premier League title in his only season at the club.

Joining Chelsea the following summer for £32m, Kante continued his incredible form at Stamford Bridge and was an integral part of Antonio Conte’s title-winning side last season.

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Chelsea 2017/18 Fixtures

Brighton (H) – Tues Dec 26
Stoke City (H) – Sat Dec 30
Arsenal (A) – Wed Jan 3
Norwich City – FA Cup (A) – Sat Jan 6
Leicester (H) – Sat Jan 13
Brighton (A) – Sat Jan 20
Arsenal (A) – Wed Jan 24 (EFL Cup)
Bournemouth (H) – Wed Jan 31
Watford (A) – Mon Jan 5
West Brom (H) – Mon Feb 12
Barcelona (H) – Tues Feb 20
Manchester United (A) – Sun Feb 25

He became the first outfield player to win back-to-back English titles with different clubs and his performances led to PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards.

Kante was also nominated for the Ballon d’Or – eventually finishing eighth, behind winner Cristiano Ronaldo – and won Chelsea’s Players’ Player of the Year prize.