Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has described N'Golo Kante as "a bit shy" after he joined up with his new teammates for the first time.
The 25-year-old turned out for training in Los Angeles yesterday, two weeks after he joined the Blues from Premier League champions Leicester City in a £32m deal.
Speaking after the training session, Conte told Chelsea Player: "For N'Golo today, it was the first day of training and he started to look at our idea of football, to understand our mentality and we are pleased to have N'Golo with us. I think he is a player that doesn't speak a lot but he does fight and it's very important, a good guy, humble and with a great will to work.
"I explained to him what I expect on the pitch and I think he's an important player, he can become an important player for Chelsea in the midfield. In the same way like [Nemanja] Matic, like [Cesc] Fabregas. I am pleased to have all the players, it's very important because we know that in 20 days we start [the Premier League] and we need to start in a good way.
"I think N'Golo is a bit shy. He just arrived in Chelsea and he must take confidence with the club, his teammates and the manager. But I am pleased he is here. His physical condition is fantastic. He's a runner. He has great stamina. He has fantastic endurance, he's in good shape but we want to respect the time in training sessions, to get him to play with us in the future."
Kante and the Chelsea squad have now travelled to Michigan ahead of their International Champions Cup encounter with Real Madrid tonight.
Neil Wilkes
