🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: And in 17th place is ... | OneFootball

Welcome to the third annual edition of the Ballon d’OneFootball as we continue our countdown of the top 25 players in the world.

Click right here to see the full list so far.

And today we have …

17th: N’Golo Kanté, Chelsea and France

(New entry)

“N’Golo is the best player to bring on because he’s unique and he can change any momentum.

“[With him] you have everything that you need in midfield: you have work rate, intensity, ball wins, skilful play. Off the ball, with the ball, dribbling, even a goal. I see this every day in training and it’s hard to believe how good he is.

“He doesn’t make faults and reduces the number of ball wins. He plays excellent in every possession game that we have in training. He’s a unique guy and I have no words for him.”

When a coach as good as Thomas Tuchel gushes over a player like that, you know he’s pretty special.

Those comments from the German tactician came in September last year when Chelsea had just beat Brentford.

But in truth, they could have come from any manager working with N’Golo Kanté over the past seven years.

The consistency at which Kanté has played since coming to England in 2015 has been remarkable but the France international seems to have taken his game to the next level alongside Mateo Kovačić this year.

Groin and knee problems have curtailed things slightly this season but the true test as to how important he is to the Blues is how often he plays 90 minutes in important games.

The answer? Every single time.

You just have to look at how Tuchel made sure Kanté was in the side for both legs of the Champions League semi-final and the final last year to realise how important he is to the Blues and their chance of winning titles.

Click right here to see the full list so far.