West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has revealed that he was close to signing N'Golo Kante before the Frenchman's move to Leicester City.
Kante has starred in a battling midfield role for the Foxes this season, making more interceptions than anyone else in the Premier League to help Leicester to a seven-point lead with only five matches of the season remaining.
He was recently included on the six-man shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year, and Bilic admitted that he was an admirer last summer ahead of this weekend's match between the two at the King Power Stadium.
Bilic said that West Ham were close to signing the Frenchman but in the end decided against pursuing him because of other players that they had in the same position.
"Yes, we were quite close [to signing Kante]," PA quotes the Hammers boss as saying. "I watched him in France. He was a good player, the same player he is now with Leicester.
"He's not very tall, but he's one of those players that you think after 20 minutes that there are twins, that there are two of them, because the energy, the cleverness he plays with, he's always there.
"When you watch a game on television there are players that are always on screen. They are never out, whatever you see, you see them, they are always on television. He's one of them. That's not only ability like having big lungs or legs or whatever, the capacity to run, this is in his head."
Kante's teammates Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are also in contention for the PFA award.
Pascal Lemesre
