Kante beats Mbappe to French Player of the Year award

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante capped a fine 2017 by being named France Football’s French Player of the Year.

Kante beat Paris Saint-Germain star and fellow France international Kylian Mbappe to the award on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old, who succeeded last year’s winner Antoine Griezmann, edged Mbappe by five votes, while Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema finished third.

Kante, who led Leicester City to a remarkable Premier League title success two seasons ago, helped Chelsea to the top-flight crown in 2016-17.

Le sommaire du nouveau numéro de France Football avec N’Golo Kanté élu joueur français de l’année https://t.co/42tLe93XzJ

— France Football (@francefootball) December 26, 2017

His exploits for Chelsea saw him crowned Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year.

Kante, who finished eighth in the Ballon d’Or behind record-equalling winner Cristiano Ronaldo, also took out Chelsea’s Players’ Player of the Year award.

In 2017-18, Kante has made 17 appearances and scored once as Chelsea sit third in the table, 13 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City.