Arsene Wenger’s failure to sign N’Golo Kante back in the summer of 2016 was ‘career suicide’ and was a huge factor in him losing his job at Arsenal, says French pundit Gilles Favard.

Kante impressed as he won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2015/16, and was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in the summer after.

Wenger had already tried to land the Frenchman during his time at Caen however was beaten to his signature by the Foxes, and he again missed out to Chelsea in the 2016, who stole him from under the nose of Wenger for a mere £30 million.

And Gilles Favard, who has worked as an advisor at Nantes and Bordeaux, claims Wenger paid a high price for missing out on the 27-year-old.

“People know how profound my respect is for Arsene Wenger, but N’Golo Kante participated in the retirement of Arsene Wenger,” Favard told L’Équipe du Soir.

“The day that Wenger decided not sign Kante, he committed career suicide.

“N’Golo Kante is indispensable in a football team.

“He is the first name that you put down on a team-sheet. When you have 11 players to pick, you pick them around him.”

Kante won the Premier League in his first season with the Chelsea – the first ever player to win back-to-back titles with different clubs – and also scooped the PFA Player of the Year award.