There is mutual “admiration” between incoming Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino and N’Golo Kante which should lead to the Frenchman remaining at the club beyond the end of the season, according to the Daily Telegraph‘s Matt Law.

Speaking on the London Is Blue podcast, Law said that Pochettino tried to sign the 32-year-old during his time at PSG, and the player is also believed to be a fan of the Argentine’s:

“I sort of checked with a few people that I know that know Pochettino well who told me that at Paris Saint-Germain in his first [year] he tried to sign N’Golo, and it didn’t end up coming off, but I think N’Golo expressed a keenness to play for him… It was described to me that there is a little bit of a “Bromance” there, there’s an admiration from both sides, so that probably tells you what Pochettino would be pushing for.”

As things stand, Kante’s contract at Stamford Bridge expires at the end of June and, while it appears Pochettino wants him to stay at Stamford Bridge, Law has also confirmed that negotiations are still in progress:

“I made a check on whether there is any problems or whether there is any worries [about Kante’s contract] and I was told ‘no’. Things are still on course. There’s haggling going on, as there always is, so it’s obviously not quite over the line but I still think there’s optimism [about the deal being done].”

Why are negotiations over a new contract taking so long?

It is believed that there are two major issues that need to be resolved. According to Law, Kante wanted to know who the next manager was before putting pen to paper on a new deal. With Pochettino set to come in, that should no longer be an obstacle to the midfielder committing his future to the Blues.

The other problem is Kante’s injury record. The club are thought to be reluctant to hand him a lucrative extension if he continues to have fitness issues, and that will have to be factored in when talking about the length of his contract.