Photo: Sky Sports

If he starts today, N’Golo Kante will be up against his former Boulonge teammate Maxime Colin, who’s now in Brentford.

Brentford defender Maxime Colin, who played alongside N’Golo Kante during their time together at French club Boulonge, has hailed the progress made by his former teammate.

“At the time the gaffer [Michel Estevan] wanted him to play right-back,” Colin told ESPN (as reported by Metro).

“I was the first right-back and he was the second one. It wasn’t at all his position. He never played — the gaffer didn’t really believe in him.”

“It’s really a beautiful story,” the defender continued when asked about Kante’s rise to Premier League champion.

“In Boulogne, no one expected him to reach this point. But he’s really a special guy.

“His best quality is to have the same level at every club. He’s really humble and never complained about training like a lot of other footballers. He just does his job. He’s done really well and I’m really happy for him.”