The World Cup winner has refused to be drawn on speculation suggesting that he is among those on the summer wishlist of Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane
N’Golo Kante has sought to calm exit talk at Chelsea by refusing to enter into a discussion regarding supposed interest from Real Madrid.
The 2018-19 campaign has been a testing one for the France international. Having helped his country to World Cup glory last summer in his favoured holding midfield role, his position at club level has been tweaked by Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.
That tinkering is considered to have contributed to Chelsea slipping to sixth in the Premier League table and to the back of the pack chasing Champions League qualification.
It has also sparked rumours regarding the respective futures of Sarri and a number of his players.
Kante is among those to have generated transfer speculation, with the 27-year-old still considered to be one of the finest performers on the planet when played to his strengths.
That ability is said to be drawing admiring glances from Spain, with Zinedine Zidane back in Madrid and expected to embark on an elaborate spending spree this summer.
The French legend may be tempted to make a move for his countryman at Stamford Bridge, but Kante insists he is paying no intention to unwelcome gossip.
He told RTL : “I am at Chelsea and I still have aims here, what is said elsewhere is not important.”
Kante’s commitment to the Blues cause could be tested if a formal approach from the Santiago Bernabeu were to be made.
The opportunity to work under Zidane may appeal to the midfielder, but he is reluctant to speculate on what the future might hold.
Quizzed on what he would do if the Blancos boss were to contact him, Kante said: “That is not important. I am at Chelsea and I am focused on that.”
Kante committed to a new five-year contract with Chelsea back in November, and that deal suggests that he will be going nowhere any time soon.
The west Londoners are also about to be stung with a two-window transfer ban, with it being claimed that no sales will be sanctioned by the Blues until they are back in a position to be able to bolster their ranks .