N'Golo Kante has made a surprise promise to teammates ahead of return

N'Golo Kante has made a promise to his teammates about a potential goal celebration, after seven months out of action for Chelsea.

The last time Kante played a game of football, Thomas Tuchel was still manager of Chelsea and Graham Potter was still in the glow of his Brighton side beating Manchester United at home.

Seven months, and some swearing by his manager, later, and the France midfielder has not set foot on the pitch since a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, also missing the World Cup.

That could all be set to change on Saturday, with the 31-year-old having been included in the squad to face Everton this weekend.

It will certainly be relief to Potter and his teammates to see the former Leicester City star back in action for them, even if he doesn't get to play this weekend.

Life without Kante has not been as successful in the league as the Stamford Bridge side are used to, and they'll be hoping he can provide a much needed boost.

He may not be well known for his goals, but the all action midfielder is already eyeing up what he'll do if it does happen, promising his teammates he'll do a knee slide.

"If I score first game, I’ll knee slide," the Frenchman said in footage from the club's training.

"I want to see it so bad," replies Christian Pulisic.

N’Golo Kante agreeing to knee slide if he scores in his first game back 🤣pic.twitter.com/cPZZQ4JC3c

— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) March 18, 2023

Ahead of the weekend, Potter was excited to have the star in a squad of his for the first time, saying, "It would be the first time so it's fantastic. Managers before me have spoken very highly of N'Golo because he's a top, top player.

"He's been a huge miss to us. That's not to say the other players haven't given absolutely everything because they have, but N'Golo Kante is N'Golo Kante. A top player.

"It's great for us he's back. We need to be mindful of the fact he's had a long injury and we need to take the next steps to get him up to speed in the Premier League, which is what we'll do."

Whilst Kante is in the squad for the game against relegation threatened Everton, they will be without Mason Mount for the game.

He was called up to the England squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers, but less than 24 hours later the west London club confirmed he wouldn't be able to meet up with his international teammates.