One of the biggest transfers of the season almost did not take place. N’Golo Kante is a Chelsea player at the moment but he did reveal that Manchester United tried to sign him up before he joined the Blues.

The 25-year-old midfielder was quoted by ESPN FC while he was talking to reporters and opened up about the interest Jose Mourinho had in the Frenchman.

“It was amazing to have Mourinho call me, even though I’d been warned before how he would appeal to me,” Kante told reporters.

“I listened to his arguments about why I should move to United.

“But at that time I was hesitant between staying at Leicester or leaving for Chelsea.

“My discussions with them were already well underway. But when I spoke, I had a good feeling with Conte.”

While Kante did move away from Leicester, Manchester United fans would be feeling a little disappointed that the deal did not go through. The French midfielder was one of the best players in the Premier League last season and would have added a lot of quality to any side.

Tackling, intercepting the ball and his ability to read the game would have greatly helped United this season. The talented player would have been a shoe in into the United starting XI and thinking about a midfield featuring Paul Pogba and Kante would certainly have made them favourites for the title.

The biggest issue would be what to do with the rest of the Manchester United team. The likes of Michael Carrick, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin would have been sitting on the bench for most part of the season. Jose even tried to dump the players to other clubs but to no fruition.

Kante topped the league last season in tackles made and in interceptions made as well. No Manchester United player has the abilities of the Frenchman and it was a surprise as to why they did not sign him up. Kante would have also provided a lot of cover to the Manchester United defence, which did have a few issues last season.

More attacking football at Old Trafford

A reason why the Manchester club did not sign Kante could be the fact that they brought in Eric Bailly to shore up the defence. The former Villarreal man was one of the best last season and has started his career extremely well at United with a number of assuring displays. Mourinho might be known for a defensive style of play but his United team have been anything but defensive.

They tormented and hammered Hull City and picked up the three points late on in the game. Kante would not have been the player to help United with going forward. The United faithful had seen enough of defensive football under Louis van Gaal and this could be the beginning of a new Mourinho style of football.

More attack, less defence and more goals. Kante might not have come to United but he would have been a great signing. If the Red Devils win the Premier League this season, there will be no questions asked about this omission though.