Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante is a target for Real Madrid, and his rise to prominence has made Arsenal’s failure to procure his signature on two occassions all the more costly.

• Zidane wants Kante as his “new Makalele”
• Arsene Wenger admitted to trying to sign Kante twice

According to Don Balon, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane wants to bring Kante in as his “new Makalele”, having long appreciated the defensive attributes of holding-midfielders.

Zidane lamented Makele’s sale at Real back in 2003, describing his departure as “(Real Madrid) losing the whole engine), and has dropped James Rodriguez in favour of Casemiro as manager last season.

Kante could have been an Arsenal player, with Arsene Wenger admitting trying to sign the French international twice – once when he was still at Caen and once when he was with Leicester City.

Wenger implied he lost the player to Chelsea due to financial reasons, although why he didn’t sign Kante from Caen originally is a mystery. Seeing him potentially moving to Real Madrid would hurt, especially with Arsenal so desperate for a stellar holding-midfielder.