Chelsea transfer news: Blues close to signing N’Golo Kante despite Leicester City’s improved contract offer

The Foxes are struggling to hold onto one of their star players

Kante battles against Everton's Bryan Oviedo (Getty)

Chelsea could be close to signing Leicester City’s N’Golo Kante with a £29m five-year deal for the midfielder on the table, reports suggest.

According to French newspaper Le Parisien, agreements between the two clubs over the 25-year-old have already been reached.

However, neither club have made any confirmation of the transfer and local paper Leicester Mercury has insisted that the Foxes “have not agreed a £29m fee with Chelsea” for the Frenchman.

Leicester recently offered their star midfielder an improved contract offer believed to be worth £100,000-a-week but it’s unclear whether or not this will be enough to keep the player at the King Power Stadium.

Kante had previously turned down an initial contract offer made from the Foxes before Euro 2016 and is believed to favour a move to Stamford Bridge.

The player has a £20m trigger clause that allows team to open talks with Leicester but with so many other sides interested in him, Chelsea accept they will have to offer much more to stand any chance of landing their man.

Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain and Juventus have all been linked with the Frenchman in some capacity across the past two months.

Kante in action for Leicester (Getty)

More recent reports had suggested that Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG were also interested in signing the midfield dynamo with a £35m bid.

The 25-year-old was signed from Caen just 12 months ago and has since gone on to take the Premier League by storm. He was intrinsic to Leicester’s historic Premier League title win and has equally impressed for France in their Euro 2016 campaign.

Kante is the latest Leicester City star linked with a move away from the Midlands club after Jamie Vardy was subject to a £20m bid from Arsenal last month.

Riyad Mahrez, on the other hand, appears to have slipped under the radar – much to the relief of fans – and looks set to remain with the league champions.