“We had to almost kidnap him to join Leicester” – Steve Walsh has now reveal how Leicester City have managed to Secured the SIGNING of World Cup winning sensation to King Power Stadium

Steve Walsh played a pivotal role in securing some of Leicester City’s most successful signings in recent years.

Walsh, who served as Leicester’s chief scout and assistant manager under Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri, was instrumental in discovering talents like Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Vardy was signed from Fleetwood Town, then a non-league side, while Mahrez joined from French second-division club Le Havre.

Walsh also spearheaded the move to bring N’Golo Kante to Leicester from Caen in 2015, another masterstroke in his impressive track record of successful signings.

Here’s the fascinating story of how Walsh secured Kante’s signature.

Steve Walsh wouldn’t let N’Golo Kante leave the training ground until he signed for Leicester City:

Steve Walsh revealed that he practically had to force N’Golo Kante to sign for Leicester, even going so far as to keep him at the club’s training ground until the deal was finalized.

“When I first saw him [for Caen] I thought ‘Is there two of him?’ He was everywhere,” the former Leicester chief said.

“He wanted to go to Marseilles. Leicester? He didn’t know where Leicester was. We had to almost kidnap him.

“I had friends in France bring him over. His primary agent didn’t even know he was there.” Walsh instructed Kante to switch off his mobile phone and didn’t allow him to leave until he’d penned a contract.

Claudio Ranieri was sceptical about signing Kante:

Walsh also shared that Ranieri initially had doubts about Kante, primarily due to his stature.

“Claudio kept saying, ‘He’s not big enough. Why do I want Kante?’ I said, ‘I’m telling you.’”

Walsh eventually convinced Ranieri, though Kante saw limited playing time in the early weeks of the season. When he did feature, he was often deployed out of position on the left flank.

It didn’t take long for Ranieri to realize that Kante’s best role was in the heart of midfield. From that point on, the diminutive Frenchman became one of the team’s most influential players.

Kante spent just 12 months at Leicester before moving to Chelsea in a £32 million deal, where he went on to win the Premier League, Champions League, and Europa League.