Former Chelsea defender Scott Minto says N'Golo Kante has the quality to become the next Michael Essien. 

The arrival of Jorginho from Napoli in the summer has seen seen Kante deployed in a more advanced role than he is used to.

It has already paid dividends, with the French international scoring as many Premier League goals (one) this season as he did in the whole of the last campaign.

Minto believes that tactical switch will see Kante become Chelsea’s new Michael Essien.

"I understand what Sarri is trying to do and what he did at Napoli with Jorginho playing as that playmaker," Minto told The Brian Moore Show (weekdays 3pm-7pm).

"Kante for me is the best defensive midfielder in the world in that destructive role, stopping teams counter-attacking, trying to win the ball back and protecting the back four. No-one can deny that Kante is, if not one of the best, the very best at it. But that's not what Sarri is trying to do in terms of his team”

“I actually think Kante, if you look at how he played when he played for Leicester, he wasn't just a defensive midfielder. He went everywhere. If you look at the heat maps, he was that cover-every-blade-of-grass kind of player. He wasn't sitting in front of the back four and protecting them. That's what he did when he went to Chelsea.

“I do think he's got more to his game. I don't think we've seen the best of him in this role but I do think he can become like a Michael Essien, who can be fantastic in that role but also going forward, using his energy as a box-to-box midfielder.”