TheCable

N’Golo Kante, Chelsea midfielder, has been named the Professional Football Association (PFA) player of the year for the 2016-17 season.

The 26-year-old who is on course to win back-to-back Premier League titles saw off teammate Eden Hazard who won the award in 2015.

Other contenders Kante pipped to the award were Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, ­Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez.

Hazard took second place in the voting while Ibrahimovic finished third.

The Frenchman, who joined Chelsea for £32m in the summer, was presented with the award on Sunday evening.

Kante could become the first player to win successive titles with different clubs in England since Eric Cantona achieved the feat in 1992 and 1993.

He has scored just one Premier League goal this season but has been vital in Chelsea’s charge to the top of the table and the FA Cup final.

“To be chosen by the players to be player of the year means a lot to me,” Kante said.

“It means the world to be chosen and it’s been two beautiful seasons, one with Leicester, and we are in good form with Chelsea.

“To be player of the year, it’s a great honour.”

Speaking of his move from Leicester to Chelsea, Kante said: “It’s a different type of playing, but with the manager, with the players, everything is easy, because we work a lot to be good in the games. It’s working very well.”

The midfielder praised the winning mentality of Antonio Conte and said Chelsea must continue to fight if they are to secure the Premier League title.

“He [Conte] knows what he wants from the players. He wants to win, and we work very, very, very hard in training for him,” he noted.

“He put a winning mentality into the squad, and everyone wants to give their best for the team, and to make Chelsea win titles.

“We have to fight for six more games. We’re going to fight like a final for every game, and hopefully we can win the league at the end of the season.”

On the possibility of winning the FA Cup, he added: “We’re going to fight for both competitions. The cup is just one game, and the league six games, and we’re going to give our best to win these two competitions.”