Chelsea news: Claude Makelele hopes N'Golo Kante can be 'as good as him' ahead of Leicester City return

Kante propelled Leicester to an unexpected title success last season

(Getty)

Claude Makélélé has backed Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kanté to surpass his achievements at Stamford Bridge following his £32m switch from Leicester City.

Former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder Makélélé won two La Liga and three Premier League titles during his illustrious career as well as reaching the World Cup final in 2006 with France, but says Kanté can go even further.

Kanté, who propelled Leicester to an unexpected title success last season, has made steady progress for Antonio Conte’s side this season after playing a prominent role for his country as they were beaten finalists at Euro 2016 this summer.

“It is a position where it is difficult to play,” Makélélé said of Kanté’s deep-lying midfield role in west London. “You must be a leader. You must work with your team-mates in midfield.

“I like N'Golo Kanté, but is he better than me at this I do not know. He still needs time to fully learn the job, to learn about football”

Kanté joined Leicester from Caen last year for £5.6m despite flirtations with Marseille. Steve Walsh, then the champions’ head of recruitment, insisted that Claudio Ranieri sign the slight Frenchman after losing Esteban Cambiasso.

The 25-year-old scored just one goal in 37 appearance for Leicester last season but was the driving force behind their remarkable rise from relegation certainties to 5,000/1 odds defying title-winners.

Makélélé, who has often been compared to Kanté, added: “He is a young player I really like, and I hope he will be better than I was.”

The Frenchman is set to return to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night as Leicester and Chelsea meet in the EFL Cup.