Quiet man N'Golo Kante's signing at Al Ittihad could speak volumes in Saudi Pro League

It is difficult to imagine N’Golo Kante enjoying the pomp and ceremony that accompanied the introductions of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in Saudi Arabia, but his arrival in the kingdom should be no less celebrated.

Ronaldo and Benzema were paraded, almost immediately after signing for Al Nassr and Al Ittihad respectively, in front of near-sell-outs at their new clubs’ homes. Kante, famously one of football’s most modest protagonists, would presumably shy from such spotlight.

His signing at Ittihad early on Wednesday was marked by a series of videos on the club’s social media channels, Kante the lead man but announcing his transfer to the newly crowned Saudi champions in typically understated fashion.

Where Benzema casually to camera lauded his new teammate from what appeared a private jet, Kante softly returned the compliment against a nondescript white background.

It is the contradiction that makes his move to the Saudi Pro League all the more enticing. Kante is the quiet man with the booming talent, a diminutive French footballer who dominates large swathes of the pitch. He closes space, harries opponents, knits together his own team’s patterns.

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